New Delhi, Feb 25 (IANS) The government is committed to the welfare of the marginalized sections of society through public-private partnerships for economic and social development, says the Economic Survey for this fiscal.

Nearly Rs.1,300 crore have been released for the 'quality' education of Scheduled Castes (SC) students under various centrally sponsored schemes and scholarships, the government said.

'The government is committed towards the educational development of Scheduled Castes. A number of schemes are being implemented to encourage students to continue their studies from school to higher education level,' said the survey laid in the Lok Sabha Thursday by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

'Public-private partnership approach is also one of the strategies for attaining the objective of development of the targeted groups.'

An amount of Rs.60.99 crore was released up to Dec 31, 2009 to target 6.60 lakh beneficiaries under the pre-matric scholarship scheme.

Under the post-matric scholarships, the government has released Rs.728.91 crore up to December 2009.

As part of the centrally sponsored scheme of hostels, the government has released Rs.5.98 crore to meet a target for construction of 44 and 30 hostels for SC girls and boys, respectively.

Similarly, Rs.80 crore was released by December 2009 under the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for SC students for 1,333 new fellowships and 5,332 renewals for those pursuing M.Phil and Ph.D courses.

An amount of Rs.2.83 crore was released to assist 1,520 SC students studying in institutions like the IITs and IIMs under the Top Class Education for Scheduled Castes Scheme.

An amount of Rs.381.60 crore was released up to December 2009 under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan, a major scheme for their economic advancement.