Senior Congress leader Husain Dalwai has appealed to the Centre to reinstate the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) and the pre-matriculation scholarship scheme for minority community students.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Rajya Sabha member Dalwai said the pre-matric scholarship has been modified from this year and made applicable for only Classes IX and X students, while the Maulana Azad fellowship scheme has been discontinued, as stated in a report by PTI.

Both these decisions will adversely affect the minority community students, he said. Dalwai said the literacy rate among minorities, particularly Buddhists and Muslims, is significantly lower on account of the prevailing poverty within the communities.

The poor parents from these communities will be forced to pull out their children from schools. The literacy rate among Muslim girls will drastically fall, he said. Dalwai said the pre-matriculation scholarship for six minority communities should include students from Classes I to VIII and the Maulana Azad National Fellowship should be restored.

Why was the scholarship withdrawn?
The statement released by the government reads, "Since MANF Scheme overlaps with various other fellowship Schemes for higher education being implemented by the Government and minority students are already covered under such Schemes, hence the Government has decided to discontinue the MNAF Scheme from 2022-2023."

The MANF scholarship is meant for MPhil and PhD scholars from Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Jain communities. Students fear its cancellation would lead to lesser representation of minorities in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), among other problems.