In a major setback to the Modi government in Gujarat, the Gujarat High Court, on 15 February, upheld the constitutional validity of Minority Scholarship scheme of central government rejecting the government’s plea saying it was discriminatory. The High Court ordered the state to implement the scheme.
The judgement came after a bunch of PILs filed in the High Court requesting it to revoke the government’s decision not to implement the scheme in the state saying it was “discriminatory” in nature and that students were being discriminated on the basis of religion. This scholarship scheme is for students belonging to five religious minorities including Muslims whose parents have annual income below Rs 1 lakh.