At a time when Bihars ruling coalition is trying to sharpen its caste strategy to take on the BJPs Hindutva agenda, it has raised the annual Scholarship amount for students from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) pursuing professional courses from Rs 90,000 to Rs 4 lakh from the 2023-24 financial year. Fully funded by the Bihar government, it will replace a similar Central government scheme and will be known as the CM OBC/EBC Post-entrance Scholarship Scheme.
As part of its latest move, the government has also decided that students whose annual family income is less than Rs 3 lakh, as against Rs 2.5 lakh earlier, will be eligible to apply for the scholarship. The Department of Education will be the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme that applies to students in Class 12 to those pursuing Masters degrees or professional and technical courses such as management and engineering in government or private institutions in the state. Only those with Bihar domicile can apply for the aid.