Govt scholarship budgets rise but 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 empowerment, 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, from approximately ₹2,710 crore in 2019-20 to ₹5,475 crore in 2023-24. Paradoxically, the number of SC students benefitting fell by 12.7%, from 54.27 lakh to 47.39 lakh.

State-level data paints a grimmer picture: Uttar Pradesh saw funding increase by 3% while beneficiaries dropped by 30% and Madhya Pradesh saw negligible growth of 1.94% in beneficiaries despite an increase in the funding of the state from 20 in 2019-20 to ₹36,680.48 lakh in 2023-24. Other MOSJE schemes fared no better.

The National Fellowship for SC students saw fellowships nearly halve to 2,221 despite exceeding its sanctioned budget between 2019-20 and 2023-24. The Free Coaching Scheme for SCs and OBCs collapsed, serving only 223 students in 2023-24 compared to 1,345 five years prior. For OBC, EBC, and DNT students under the PM-YASASVI scheme, Post-matric beneficiaries fell from 40.94 lakh to 5.38 lakh before a partial recovery, with states like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka reporting zero beneficiaries in intervening years. Pre-matric scholarships saw a fall from 94.52 lakh to 4.30 lakh recipients.

Earlier on July 7, HT reported that the ministry has issued provisional scholarship awards to less than half of those selected, or just 40 of the 106 candidates selected for its National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) for the forthcoming academic year, 2025-26. It has said that letters for the remaining 66 candidates “may be issued... subject to availability of funds”.