Foreign scholarships: HC strikes down clause on income limit

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court has struck down a clause from the govt resolution which had removed the income criterion for overseas scholarships, and stressed that the scholarship’s original intent of supporting backward students should be preserved.
A division bench of justices Avinash Gharote and MS Jawalkar said that by nullifying Clause D(2) of the GR issued by Maharashtra govt on June 27, 2017, it wants rectify the imbalance in scholarship distribution and uphold fairness in access to educational chances.
The ruling came in response to a writ petition filed by Mayur Sanghrakshit Patil, a 28-year-old student from Nagpur, in which he talked about the inequities in scholarship distribution based on income thresholds. Patil, belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, contested the clause on the grounds of unfairness, highlighting its adverse impact on economically disadvantaged students.
Patil submitted that he has been selected to pursue a programme at the Duke University (in USA), but banks are not ready to grant loan due to his financial inability, thereby depriving him of his right to education.
The benefit of the scheme is availed by students who are economically stable and can themselves make expenses to seek education abroad. His annual income, standing at Rs2,78,000 placed him within the lower-income bracket, he said. pti