Scholarship disbursement to ST-2 students in J&K under ambit of TAD: Rana

Jammu, Aug 29: Minister for Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana, has reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to ensure timely disbursement of scholarships to Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, particularly those categorized under ST-2, in full compliance with the established guidelines of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.According to a statement issued here, reiterating that the disbursement of Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarships to ST-2 students falls clearly within the mandate of the Tribal Affairs Department (TAD), the Minister stated that there can be no delay by any authority within the Department, except for the essential verification and de-duplication process mandated under central government guidelines.In this regard, the Minister has issued explicit directions to both the Secretary and the Director, Tribal Affairs, J&K, to ensure the immediate disbursement of all pending scholarships to eligible ST students, including ST-2 beneficiaries who had applied through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).A spokesperson from the Directorate of Tribal Affairs, J&K, clarified that although the Hon’ble Minister had already issued clear instructions to extend all scholarship benefits to ST-2 students, a necessary de-duplication exercise was required to avoid duplicate disbursement of scholarships. This step was taken to ensure that ST-2 students who were earlier receiving scholarships through the Social Welfare Department are now included only under the Tribal Affairs Department, as per Government of India directives.The Directorate has since completed the deduplication process in consultation with the Social Welfare Department, and received the necessary clarifications. Consequently, the entire process for disbursement of pending scholarships has been completed, and eligible ST-2 students are now receiving their entitled scholarships under the Tribal Affairs Department.