A candlelight march on AIDS Day in Amritsar. (AFP)

New Delhi, Dec. 2: Daughters of HIV-infected mothers, sex workers and devadasis (temple courtesans) will receive special scholarships at Pune University, a first in the country’s higher education history.

Starting this year, the university will spend Rs 30 lakh on scholarships for these children to help them use education to counter stigma and discrimination. “It is a bold move but we are confident that it will work,” said vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav.

The scholarships are part of the university’s Krantijyoti Savitrimata Phule Girl Student Scholarship Scheme, named after the wife of 19th century social reformer Jyotiba Phule, who ran schools for Dalit students.

The university has allocated Rs 1 crore annually under the scheme, of which 30 per cent will be reserved for the children of HIV mothers. In all, 2,000 scholarships of Rs 5,000 each will be made available. Of these, 600 will be dedicated to this group of students.

University officials made it clear the applicants would not be tested for HIV. University Grants Commission officials dubbed the move “very positive” but expressed reservations that identifying the children may make them more vulnerable to discrimination.

“We aren’t willing to propose its replication elsewhere because of concerns that once these children are identified, their classmates or classmates’ parents may target them,” said a senior UGC official. Such discrimination is not uncommon.

In June, five HIV positive kids were thrown out of a primary school in Kerala’s Kottayam despite a restraining order from the government.

Pune University officials, however, said the scholarships, far from increasing discrimination, will help fight an already-existing evil. “Locally, students know whose parent is a sex worker and whose mother is HIV-positive. Why should they have to hide the fact that their parents are victims of the disease? These scholarships are an incentive for these children to study despite their problems,” Jadhav said.

The university has asked its 269 colleges to identify those eligible for the scholarships.