Minorities Welfare Department (MWD) has now sought an amendment and improvement of rules in terms of eligibility norms as 35 per cent of civil services trainees dropping out of coaching classes.
“We have 65 students now for the prelims. It was observed that the dropout rate is on account of the income ceiling of Rs 1 lakh per annum. We have written recently to the government to increase this to Rs 4 lakh, which is at par with the ceiling prescribed for the BCs.
There will be many more who will be able to benefit from the scheme if the income limit is increased,” said director of Centre for Education and Development of Minorities S A Shukoor.
Other sources from the MWD said that the department is looking for bright students. It is important to raise the bar as civil services exams are highly competitive.
Sources said that the MWD spends around Rs 23,000 on each student. Further, those not from the city are awarded a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500. The cost for training successful candidates for the main examinations is expected to escalate to Rs 60,000 per student, the sources said.