Department of Minorities fails to utilize grants released for student education
Bengaluru: A significant portion of funds allocated for educational and welfare programs aimed at minority communities remains unspent by the Karnataka Minority Welfare Department, raising serious concerns about the implementation of these initiatives.
For the 2024-25 financial year, the government allocated Rs 2,517 crore for various minority welfare initiatives. However, by December, only Rs 1,400 crore had been released and just 816 crore spent. With 42% of the released funds still lying unspent, the Minority Welfare Department has failed to effectively utilize the funds, leading to setbacks in programs meant to support students and other beneficiaries.
Take for instance the Vidyasiri scholarship program, which was allocated Rs 24.99 crore to provide financial support to minority students. Out of this, Rs 18.74 crore was released by December 2, 2024. Shockingly, none of the released funds have been spent, and the department has simply held onto the money instead of distributing it to the intended beneficiaries.
Another crucial program meant to train minority students for competitive examinations also saw similar inefficiencies. The government had allocated Rs 17.15 crore for this initiative, with Rs 12.86 crore being released. However, by December 2, only Rs 6.31 crore had been spent, meaning that more than half of the available funds remained unused. The scholarship budget for minority students stood at Rs 100 crore, but Rs 46 crore of this allocation remained unspent.
Concerns over the lack of fund utilization were raised during a KDP meeting held on November 18, 2023, under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary. Officials disclosed that both the central and state governments had failed to provide their share of funding for centrally sponsored minority welfare schemes. The state government had allocated Rs 83 crore for such programs, while the central government had promised Rs 100 crore. However, by the end of October, not a single rupee had been released from either side.
A similar situation was observed in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Programme, which is linked to the Minority Welfare Department. The state government had allocated Rs 83 crore for this scheme, with the Centre adding Rs 100 crore. However, by the end of October, none of these funds had been disbursed.
The lack of fund distribution has severely impacted various departmental schemes meant to benefit minority communities. A budget of Rs 160 crore had been set aside for scholarships and fee reimbursement, but by October, only Rs 2.29 crore had been released, and of this, merely Rs 0.10 crore had been spent. Similarly, Rs 110 crore was earmarked for community development projects, yet only Rs 1 crore had been released by October.
The situation was no different for financial assistance programs supporting MPhil and PhD students from minority backgrounds. Out of a budgeted Rs 6 crore, only Rs 2.33 crore was spent by the end of October. Fee refunds for students were also significantly delayed. Although Rs 25 crore was allocated for this purpose, not a single penny had been disbursed for six months, leaving thousands of students without reimbursement.
Maulana Azad School, which had been allocated Rs 68.29 crore for college maintenance and new hostel development, received Rs 43.55 crore. Out of this, Rs 35.38 crore was spent. Meanwhile, Rs 347.89 crore had been budgeted for the maintenance of hostels and residential schools, but only Rs 181.42 crore had been released by October, and only Rs 123.12 crore was utilized.
Poor fund utilization extended to economic assistance programs as well. Under the Shram Shakti Loan Scheme, which was meant to provide financial aid to 1,000 individuals, Rs 5 crore had been allocated. However, not a single rupee was distributed, despite an earlier expenditure of Rs 11.01 crore being recorded.
The continued failure to utilize funds effectively has affected thousands of beneficiaries, causing delays in scholarships, education programs, and financial aid. As the financial year nears its end, concerns are growing over the unspent funds and the impact on minority communities who rely on these government initiatives.
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Almost 30% of MHA’s takedown notices to X target posts on Union Ministers, govt agencies: Report
New Delhi: In a significant revelation, nearly 30% of the 66 takedown notices sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs' Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to X (formerly Twitter) over the past year have warned the platform to remove content involving Union Ministers and Central government agencies.
According to court records obtained by The Hindu from the Delhi High Court and the Karnataka High Court, these notices primarily focus on posts about popular leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and his son Jay Shah, as well as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar.
The report, published on Sunday, revealed that in the past year, the government has issued notices to social media and messaging platforms — including X, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — requesting the removal of over 1.1 lakh pieces of content. These requests were made to address various categories of "unlawful information," such as deepfakes, child sexual abuse material, financial frauds, and "misleading and false information." The content targeted for removal includes posts from political parties, news organisations, and individual users both in India and globally.
One such incident involved AI-generated images targeting Jay Shah in a derogatory light alongside Kavya Maran, the owner of the Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team. The I4C flagged the content as a deliberate attempt to defame prominent officials through the misuse of technology. One of the two posts was a fact check debunking the visual, and was not removed by X, while the other was deleted by the user themselves, the report mentioned.
X has also received notices to take down content critical of the Home Ministry’s leadership. In one notice in December, X was notified about 54 posts linking to a manipulated video clip of Amit Shah purporting to show an anti-reservation stance.
Another request involved a post featuring Prime Minister Modi, which referenced a promise to “give the country an account every five years.” The government sought its removal, although the post appears to have been deleted by the user.
Beyond these high-profile cases, the I4C has also issued routine notices. These include takedowns of fraudulent accounts imitating the Cyber Dost helpline and content inciting religious hatred against both Hindus and Muslims.
For nearly two years, these takedown notices remained undisclosed after X ceased publishing details of government requests in April 2023. However, the ongoing legal battle between X and the Union government has brought these details to light, The Hindu added.
At the center of this legal conflict is the SAHYOG portal, which allows law enforcement agencies to send notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000. X has raised concerns, calling it a “censorship portal” and arguing that it is a circumvention of legal safeguards against censorship in a different section of the same law. The Union government, however, maintains that the notices are not blocking orders but rather serve as warnings to social media platforms about potential liability for unlawful content.
A police official with access to the SAHYOG portal told the news outlet that the system is still in its trial phase, with only a small percentage of notices leading to actual takedown actions. The majority of law enforcement agencies continue to prefer submitting requests directly to platforms instead of going through the SAHYOG portal.
