Mumbai: Following a report by The Free Press Journal, the Minority Development Department has finally updated the name of its minister on the official portal, which handles scholarships for minority students seeking higher education abroad.
The portal had previously corrected the Chief Minister’s name from Eknath Shinde to Devendra Fadnavis after a report in the FPJ on February 25, but — as reported by this newspaper on February 26 — it continued to display outdated information, listing Abdul Sattar as the Minority Development Minister, even though Dattatray Bharne has assumed charge in the new government. This administrative lapse persisted despite a government reshuffle, reflecting the department’s sluggish approach to governance.
The failure to make even basic updates for months has drawn criticism from students and education activists, who argue that such negligence reflects a deeper issue of bureaucratic indifference. “The delayed update of ministerial names on an official government platform raises serious concerns about the efficiency of the department, especially when it is responsible for overseeing crucial scholarship programmes for economically disadvantaged minority students.
Kuldeep Ambekar, president of Student Helping Hand, expressed frustration over the “continuous delays and administrative inefficiency”, stating, "It took media reports to force the government to update its own website. If they cannot manage something as simple as this, how can we trust them to handle something as critical as scholarships for students?"
Despite the belated correction, questions remain regarding the department’s handling of the foreign education scholarship programme, which is yet to release the final list of 75 selected candidates. Even after three separate advertisements — the latest published just last week, as confirmed by a senior official from the Ministry of Social Justice — students are still waiting for an announcement.
“Just like other social groups, the state government introduced a foreign education scholarship scheme last year for students from minority communities. Under this scheme, a circular was issued to send 75 students abroad each year. However, the Minority Department is yet to announce the final list of selected students. Since this is the first year of the foreign scholarship, the work was assigned to the Social Justice Department, but the department has completely failed in fulfilling its duty,” said Ambekar.
Ambekar further emphasised the urgency of releasing the scholarship list, adding, "Many students are at risk of losing their university admissions and visas because of these delays. The government must take responsibility and ensure the entire process is completed without further setbacks."
“While the government’s slow response to updating its portal has finally been rectified thanks to this newspaper, it does little to address the real issue at hand — the fate of students like me awaiting financial support for their higher education abroad. The department must now turn its attention to finalising the scholarship selection process, ensuring that bureaucratic inertia does not continue to jeopardise our futures,” a candidate who applied for the scholarship in the last week of December told the FPJ.
