Asadudin Owaisi, Kiren Rijiju trade barbs on minority schemes: ‘RTE used as fig leaf’

Union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju traded some barbs on social media with AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi over pre-matric scholarships and other schemes for minority students’ welfare.

Responding to Owaisi’s criticism from Tuesday that the NDA government restricted scholarships to classes 9 and 10 even though dropouts among Muslims begin as early as class 5, Rijiju said in a post on X that the pre-matric scholarship has been restricted as the Right to Education (RTE) Act makes it obligatory to provide free and compulsory elementary education for students of classes 1 to 8 anyhow.

The union minister also said the Maulana Azad National Fellowship scheme has been discontinued as it overlaps with similar schemes of other ministries and departments.

“Also, the UGC and CSIR Fellowship Schemes are open for candidates of all social categories and communities, including minorities. Schemes like PMJVK, PM VIKAS are being implemented for maximum inclusivity and socio-economic upliftment,” Rijiju said.

Asaduddin Owaisi hits back at Kiren Rijiju again

Asaduddin Owaisi hit back at Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday, alleging that the Right to Education Act is being used as a “fig leaf” to restrict the Pre-Matric Scholarship, which helps in reducing dropout rate.

“The point of the Pre-Matric scholarship was to reduce dropout rates, which begin much earlier than class IX-X. This worked to reduce the financial burden on minority families. The RTE is only being used as a fig leaf. The Pre-Matric scholarship for other communities was also restricted by the Modi govt, no?” Owaisi replied on X.

On the Maulana Azad National Fellowship scheme being discontinued, he said it was meant to help increase minority representation in scholarship and higher education “since minorities are underrepresented.”

The presence of an open category does not take away the need for the scheme, he claimed.

He also claimed that the Minority Affairs Ministry budget saw a major reduction in 2023-24 and has remained almost the same since then, despite inflation.