More scrutiny for scholarships

The process of awarding scholarships to students will now come under central government scrutiny. Students will be granted scholarships based on their financial status, on their Income Tax returns filed, investment proof and actual proof of annual family income.

The government plans to start the process of scrutiny with the IITs. In fact, IIT Delhi is already in the process of coming up with a form with these prerequisites, which will be handed out to students in the upcoming session.

According to sources in the HRD ministry, educational institutions feel the need to have a rigorous scrutiny process in place as a large number of students submit fake income certificates to bag scholarships.

"There have been many cases where students submitted fake income certificates to declare that their family earned a paltry income to secure a scholarship. We would later find out that these students have attended renowned coaching institutes to prepare for IIT and other exams," said a senior official at IIT Delhi.

A student can avail of a merit-based scholarship if his/her family income is less than 4,50,000 per annum.

On the basis of such complaints, it was decided in a meeting of the IIT Council in 2016 that IITs will have a detailed scrutiny form for students availing scholarships on financial grounds.

Confirming the development, Professor V Ramagopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said, "Our scholarship form will elicit in-depth information on a student and his/her financial background."