Raise income ceiling for welfare schemes to Rs 5 lakh – Kainth

Majority of SC families unable to enjoy benefit due to low income ceiling – NSCA

Letter sent to Punjab MPs to raise issue in the Parliament

Parents forced to work at low paying jobs to ensure remaining under Rs. 2.5 lakh ceiling – Kainth

Chandigarh, 2 February – National Scheduled Castes Alliance, today submitted a letter to the Members of Parliament of both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha from Punjab regarding the raising of income ceiling for the welfare schemes meant for the Scheduled Castes community from Rs. 2.5 Lakh at present to Rs. 5 Lakh. An appeal was given to the MPs to raise the issue in the Parliament.

Paramjit Singh Kainth, President of the NSCA wrote the letter on behalf of the Alliance said, “we demanded that the income ceiling should be increased to Rs. 5 lakh for these welfare schemes so that a majority share of population from the community which lives under hand-to-mouth circumstance is also able to take benefit. This change will be a reflection of true circumstances in today’s day and age where sustaining a family even with Rs. 5 lakh is tough as it is and due to the income ceiling of Rs. 2.5 Lakh, the family is not able to take benefits under the welfare schemes meant for them.”

In schemes such as SC Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme, SC Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme etc SC students are eligible to get scholarship under the schemes if parents/guardians’ income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 2,50,000/- (Rupees two lakh fifty thousand only) per annum.

Kainth further said, “This demand is a reasonable one as considering the expensive costs of living nowadays puts extra pressure on the already meager resources of the majority of SC families and with extra relaxation on the income ceiling, these poor families will be able to enjoy the benefits of the welfare schemes. Many of the families are forced to work low paying jobs to make sure they do not cross the Rs. 2.50 lakh ceiling and hence, in a way this hinders the development and welfare of their wards in the long run.”

In this regard, the NSCA submitted letters to all the 13 MPs of Lok Sabha and 7 MPs of Rajya Sabha from Punjab and also wrote a similar letter to Shri. Som Parkash, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Government of India regarding the issue of raising the income ceiling to Rs. 5 Lakh for various welfare schemes.