Maharashtra dominates the government scholarships given to Dalit students to pursue higher studies in foreign universities, with data of recent years showing that the state is head and shoulders above the rest.
Of the 72 fellowships awarded under ¡®National Overseas Scholarship for SCs¡¯ (NOS) till February 2018, 40 have gone to students from Maharashtra.
The contrast with other states is evident from the fact that Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh were in second place with six scholarships each.
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In fact, the trend has been overwhelmingly skewed in favour Maharashtra for the last few years. Of the 108 fellowships given in 2016-17, 53 went to the western state while UP had eight and Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu five each. Other states languished between 0-4 fellowships.
Maharashtra also topped the list with similar overwhelming numbers in the previous three years.
Run by the social justice ministry, the NOS funds SC students selected for pursuing masters-level courses and PhD abroad. The scheme used to have 30 seats, which was increased to 60, and further raised to 100 in 2014.
According to officials, the reason behind Maharashtra¡¯s ability to literally corner the NOS is better educational guidance available to students. They said awareness level about the NOS was high in Maharashtra because the state also ran a similar scheme.
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Sociologists attribute it to Ambedkar and his stress on education as the road to emancipation. The premium the Dalit mascot put on studies resulted in a tradition for higher education.
A group of scholarship beneficiaries who returned to work among Dalits, not willing to be named, is responsible for providing impetus to Ambedkar¡¯s idea. They are involved in creating awareness about the overseas scholarship and providing guidance to interested students.
An expert said Maharashtra instituted its overseas scholarship scheme many years ago, which is viewed as a quality programme, while most big states with high Dalit populations do not have such a provision. It has resulted in the yawning gap in awareness levels between states.
Of the 50 NOS fellowships in 2015-16, Maharashtra bagged 16 follwed by Andhra Pradesh (5), Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu (4), Assam (2), Karnataka (3), Kerala, Odisha, Rajasthan and MP (1).