Govt scholarship budgets rise, beneficiaries decrease

Central government scholarship schemes for the most marginalised student communities have recorded a consistent and unusual trend over the five years from 2019 to 2024, which also coincided with the ongoing implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020: Beneficiary numbers have sharply declined while sanctioned budgets have remained steady or even increased.

- Vrinda Tulsian and Sanjay Maurya

This pattern is documented in official responses submitted to Parliament between July and November 2024, reports from a parliamentary committee, and annual data from the ministries of social justice and empower- ‘ment, tribal affairs, and minority affairs.

The ministry of social justice and empowerment (MoSJE) manages several key schemes exhibiting this alarming trend. Most strikingly, the central assistance for the post-matric scholarship for SC students almost doubled,

Responding to the Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment in a report published in March this year, the MoSJE attributed the failures to systemic bottlenecks. For SC schemes (SHREYAS), reasons included delayed proposal submissions by institutions, stagnant allocations due to fixed slots and lower-than-expected applications, administrative delays in processing, and a rigid $8 lakh income ceiling for overseas scholarships excluding eligible candidates.