The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale has stressed that the scholarships disbursed by the centre in last three years has benefited about four crore students across the country. <br/><br/>He said that the amount of more than 13 thousand crore during this period has been utilized for the purpose. The Union Minister was addressing a press conference in Gangtok today. <br/><br/>Appreciating the protection provided by the Sikkim government to the weaker section having no record of any atrocities related cases against the Dalits in last two years Mr. Athwale added that the government is focusing more on overall development of North-eastern states.