Amid Ambedkar row, Kejriwal announces scholarship for Dalits

In the run-up to the assembly elections in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced an Ambedkar scholarship for free foreign education of the city's Dalit students.

IMAGE: AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference in New Delhi. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

Kejriwal said the Dr Ambedkar Samman Scholarship was a response to the BJP's "insult" of Ambedkar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, alleged that Kejriwal dressed up an old scheme announced in 2019 for political mileage ahead of the elections.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah "insulted and made fun of Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar in Parliament. Crores of people who love Ambedkar were deeply pained," Kejriwal said at the AAP headquarters.

Ambedkar had said education was the way forward and secured a PhD from the US against all odds, the former Delhi chief minister told reporters.

The scholarship is a response to the insult meted out by the BJP to the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, the AAP chief added.

"Under the scheme, any Dalit student from Delhi will be able to receive education in foreign universities. If they get admission in any such university, the Delhi government will bear the entire cost of their education, travel and accommodation," Kejriwal said.

Children of government employees will also be eligible for the scheme, he added, without elaborating how and when the scholarships would be given.

Responding to the announcement, BJP national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on X that the scheme was launched in 2019, with a promise by Kejriwal to send 100 Dalit students abroad every year for education.

Delhi BJP leader Harish Khurana, citing a RTI reply to his query, said the scheme for foreign education of Scheduled Caste (SC) students had been underway since 2020 but the reality was that the Delhi government could give just Rs 25 lakh in total to five students till 2023-24.

Khurana also slammed Kejriwal for announcing the same scheme in a show of "fake respect" to Ambedkar.

Ahead of the polls, due in February, Kejriwal has promised Rs 2,100 per month to all adult women and free treatment of senior citizens at government and private hospitals if his party returns to power.