Coimbatore: The post-matric scholarship scheme for students from SC and ST communities needs some changes, activists and educationists said. While the students are given the fee stipulated by the government for colleges, the colleges levy extra fee and this should be monitored by district-level committees, they said.Also, the fee for an academic year is now being given to students only after that particular academic year. The amount should be given to them in the same academic year.Members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), who have been protesting the modifications made to the scholarship scheme under the GO51, said the scholarship for SC and ST students, who join colleges under management quota, has been reduced. The students, who were given a full fee refund, are now being given only a part of the fee as per the modification. This has caused hardships to the students.However, S Selvakumar, member of state-level Adi Dravidar welfare committee, department of Adi Dravidar and tribal welfare, said the modification was necessary as many self-financing colleges were misusing the scheme by enrolling students themselves without the counselling process.Some self-financing colleges also get extra fee than the fee fixed by the state, he said. “Under the scholarship, SC and ST students would be given only the fee fixed by the state. But, some colleges demand extra fee than that under various names. Also, at present, the fee for an academic year would be sent to the college only after that particular year. Because of this, some colleges force students to pay the fee and they face problems as they can’t arrange the money at once,” he said.There should be district-level committees under collectors to ensure that colleges don’t demand more fee than the fixed fee from SC and ST students, who join under the scholarship, he said. “The policy should be such that a particular academic year’s fee should be given in the same year.”The scholarship scheme has been very helpful to SC and ST students, said Selvakumar. “Tamil Nadu stood second in the country in getting the scholarships and in the state, Coimbatore is in the second place.”

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