Muslim students' enrolment in higher education institutions up by 1.83 lakh during 2016-2021: MoE
New Delhi (PTI): The enrolment of Muslim students in higher education institutions increased to 19.22 lakh in 2020-21 from 17.39 lakh in 2016-17, Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar said on Wednesday.
The number of teachers from the Muslim community also increased significantly to 86,314 in 2020-21 from 67,215 in 2016-17, he said.
The minister shared the statistics from the All India Survey on Higher Education, 2020-21, in response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha.
"As per the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), 2020-21, the enrolment of Muslim students has increased to 19.22 lakh in 2020-21 from 17.39 lakh in 2016-17. The number of teachers from the Muslim community has shown (a) significant increase to 86,314 in 2020-21 from 67,215 in 2016-17, as reported under AISHE, 2020-21," he said.
"The government is encouraging minority students through various initiatives," Sarkar added.
He shared that the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs implements three educational empowerment schemes for students from six notified minority communities -- Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian -- all over the country.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
