Massive budget cuts in scholarships, research fellowships post-NEP 2020

An analysis of budget estimates shows that even in schemes for which allocations have increased in the last few years, the budgets are still lower than pre-NEP levels

- Atul Krishna

Funds for scholarships and fellowships have seen a sharp decline after the introduction of National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. As we enter the fourth year of the policy, minority scholarships have seen cuts up to Rs 1,000 crore and newly formed umbrella programmes, such as Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Protsahan (PM-USP), that bundle existing schemes, are receiving about Rs 500 crore less than in the years prior to NEP, shows an analysis of budget estimates over the years.

Even though the NEP 2020 states that it will "provide more financial assistance and scholarships to socio-economically disadvantaged students", budget documents show that many scholarship schemes, except for the post-matric scholarships, have seen substantial cuts. So much so that current allocations are far below budgets five years ago. The central government also scrapped vital scholarship schemes such as the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) again, for minorities and the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) for youths interested in pursuing general science programmes.

The Scholarships for Higher Education for Young Achievers Scheme (SHREYAS) for Scheduled Castes (SC) saw increased allocations in 2023-24 and 2024-25, but even then fell well short of what the scheme received in 2021-22. The SHREYAS scheme for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) saw an even larger cut. Even funds for research and innovation in universities have almost halved since the introduction of NEP. The NEP was adopted through a Union Cabinet approval in July 2020.

PM-USP

Academics have long argued that post-NEP 2020, all universities have faced cuts. This lack of grants caused a fee hike which, they said, was supposed to be offset through scholarships. However, budget documents show that many major scholarships have been receiving reduced funding.