The Kerala government announced yesterday, Friday, October 7, that it has set aside an additional Rs 200 crore for the distribution of post-matric scholarships to students from Other Eligible Communities (OEC).

According to a statement published by the office of Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal, the government has so far earmarked Rs 5,326 crore this year for scholarships for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and OEC.

Balagopal stated that Rs 200 crore was made available for the distribution of scholarships to students from the OEC and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) categories. This year, Rs 240 crore was allocated in the budget, and it was allowed earlier, The Indian Express reports.

“With this, the arrears under this category can be cleared in full,” the statement said.

It went on to say that last year, Rs 40 crore was earmarked in the budget for scholarships, but the government ended up distributing roughly Rs 358 crore, including the previous year's arrears.

According to the document, the first government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan spent Rs 3,853 crore on scholarships for students from underprivileged areas, whereas the previous government under Oommen Chandy spent only Rs 2,069 crore.