Prakash Ambedkar, Baripa Bahujan Mahasangh chief and grandson of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, on Wednesday extended support to the students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), who have been protesting for the past 15 days.
Mr. Ambedkar said Samyak Vidyarthi Andolan, the students’ wing of the Baripa Bahujan Mahasangh, would organise a protest march to the Vidhan Sabha on March 15 to raise the issue of scholarship for students of backward classes.
Mr. Ambedkar said, “This is not just your fight. It is a fight of every student. Students in colleges in mofussil areas have not got scholarship for nearly three years. We have decided to stage a dharna in front of the office of every district collector and social welfare department across the State.”
Mr. Ambedkar said in a recently released Government Resolution, the State had decided slash funding of the scholarship for OBCs from 60% to 30%. He said, “When we take a morcha to the Vidhan Sabha, I would like all of you to participate in full strength and ensure that students get their rightful share in the scholarship.”
‘₹1,868-crore scam’
Mr. Ambedkar alleged that there was a ₹1,868-crore scam in the State’s student scholarship scheme. He demanded that the accused in the scam be arrested and the annual income limit for marginalised students availing the scholarship be increased. He said, “We will also be protesting against the government’s decision to fund the farmers’ loan waiver from the SC/ST scholarship fund.”
Mr. Ambedkar told students pressure the government to release funds that have been already allocated. He said, “The State normally distributes only the scholarship money it receives from the Centre. It is actually supposed to provide a similar grant from its own treasury.”
Mr. Ambedkar said the TISS management should support the right of the students for scholarship. He said, “We will have to fight until 2019. The management should be in this fight with the students. It should give them encouragement.”
The students have been demanding that OBC students eligible for the Government of India-Post Matriculate Scholarship (GoI-PMS) be exempted from paying hostel and dining hall fees. The institute has waived the fee only for SC/ST GoI-PMS students.
Fahad Ahmad, general secretary of the Students’ Union, said.“None of the issues put forth by the OBC GoI-PMS students have been addressed till date.”
