Constitution of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostel for SC & OBC Boys and Girls (OBC component) during 11th Five year Plan and revision of its norms
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10 Dec 2009
20:41 IST

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved revision of the existing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostel for SC & OBC Boys and Girls (OBC component) during the remaining period of 11th Five year Plan with the following norms:

(i) Existing cost sharing pattern with States is 50:50. This will be changed to 90:10 in the case of North-Eastern States including Sikkim, while the existing pattern will continue in the case of other States. (ii) So far, there was no involvement of NGOs in implementation of the Scheme. After this revision, suitable voluntary organisations will also be eligible to receive assistance under the Scheme. Funding pattern for them will be 45% each by Central and State Governments and 10% by NGOs.
(iii) A new component of financial assistance has been approved i.e. a one-time non-recurring grant @ Rs.2500/- per student will be provided for essential furniture and equipment.
(iv) Under the existing Scheme, there have been wide variations in the per unit cost of the hostels received from the State Governments and a need was felt to bring about some uniformity in the minimum physical infrastructure provided to OBC students. Accordingly, minimum physical and financial norms for a 100 seated hostel has been approved as under:
(a) The total built up area of a hostel will be 1215 sq.mtr. including dormitory, kitchen, and dining hall, toilet/bath, common room/reading room, medical room, staff quarter etc. which means the built up area per resident will be 12.15 sq.mtr.
(b) The total cost of a hostel including the cost of construction and other essential / recreational facilities will be approximately Rs.1.37 crore which will be shared between the Centre and State, which means the cost per seat will be about Rs.1.40 lakh.
(c) The above minimum physical and financial norms have been approved for betterment of the existing hostel conditions. However, the State Governments may provide additional facilities to the residents at a higher cost and such additional cost will have to be borne by the States.

The constitution enjoins upon the State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people. The Centrally sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for SC and OBC Boys and Girls (OBC Component) is being implemented since 1998-99 to address the problem of educational backwardness of OBCs. Many a time, rural students especially from those belonging to weaker sections have to give up their pursuit of education because their villages do not have Secondary schools and colleges and adequate hostel facilities are not available for them at reasonable cost, at places where such educational institutions are available. Therefore, the Scheme for OBCs provides assistance to State Governments for construction of hostels up to 100 seats capacity for OBC boys and Girls studying at School and college level. At least 1/3rd of the hostels are meant to be constructed exclusively for girls and 5% of the total seats are reserved for disabled students. However, students belonging to the creamy layer (income limit of which is currently Rs. 4.50 lakh per annum) are not eligible for admission to these hostels.

The Scheme is being implemented through the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations while Voluntary organizations are not eligible for financial assistance under the existing scheme. Central assistance to States is provided on a 50:50 basis, while 100% assistance is provided to UTs and Central Government Institutions.

The allocation of funds under the Scheme for the remaining two years of 11th Plan i.e. 2010-2012 is Rs.209 crore. It is proposed to sanction about 30,000 number of seats under the revised Scheme during the period 2010-2012.

The OBC students whose parents’ income does not exceed Rs.4.50 lakh per annum will be benefited with the result that the target group will get access to residential accommodation, while pursuing studies away from home.

The scheme addresses the problem of educational backwardness of OBC students and their social integration with the mainstream of society by helping them in pursuit of their education through adequate hostel facilities in the vicinity of educational institutions to bring about equity in the society.

Laying down of physical and financial norms will bring about uniformity and improve accountability of grantee State/Government Institutions / NGOs etc.

The expenditure involved is Rs.209 crore for 2010-12 for about 30000 seats.

Under the revised Scheme, it is proposed to cover un-served districts of different States where adequate hostel facilities are not available for OBC students.

The Scheme is being implemented from 1998-99 and not revised so far. The scheme aims at providing better educational opportunities to students belonging to OBCs. Since the inception of the scheme and up to the 10th Plan (2006-07), 573 hostels (39606 seats) have been sanctioned. During the first year of the 11th Plan, 95 hostels with 6025 seats have been sanctioned. During 2008-09, a sum of Rs.34.55 crore has been sanctioned to States for construction of 117 hostels with 8315 seats.


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