Crores of rupees allotted for scholarship have not been spent! Sharp decline in the number of beneficiary students

• A huge amount is left every year compared to the allocation.
• OBC-EBC pre-matric beneficiaries less than half
• Government preparing to change eligibility rules

New Delhi. Questions have been raised over the implementation of scholarship schemes being run for students from socially and economically deprived sections. Government data presented in Parliament has shown that thousands of crores of rupees allocated for these schemes have not been spent in the last few years, while there has also been a significant decline in the number of beneficiary students.

In a written reply to a question asked in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, said that several scholarship schemes are being run for the students of Scheduled Castes (SC), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Economically Backward Classes (EBC) and Denotified Tribes (DNT). The Ministry also tabled the data related to the funds allocated for these schemes and its utilization. On the basis of these figures, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas claimed that the huge amount earmarked for scholarship schemes could not be spent. According to him, this situation is coming to the fore at a time when students from deprived sections are most in need of financial assistance to survive in higher education.

According to government data, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment had received an allocation of Rs 14,164.42 crore in the year 2024-25, but out of this only Rs 8,679.02 crore could be spent. That means an amount of more than Rs 5,500 crore could not be utilized. Earlier, in the year 2023-24, Rs 9,163.98 crore was allocated to the department, out of which Rs 8,008.79 crore was spent. Rs 8,874.14 crore was earmarked for another scheme during the same period, but the actual expenditure remained limited to Rs 7,762.82 crore.

Similarly, in 2022-23, against the allocation of Rs 8,165 crore, only Rs 6,372.38 crore was spent, while in 2021-22, out of the budget of Rs 6,220.62 crore, only Rs 4,446.24 crore could be utilized. Non-utilization of the allocation for several consecutive years raises questions on the implementation of the schemes. There has been a decline not only in budget utilization but also in the number of students receiving scholarships.

According to government data, the number of Scheduled Caste pre-matric scholarship beneficiaries was 31.22 lakh in 2020-21, which decreased to 21.65 lakh in 2024-25. That means there has been a shortage of about ten lakh students. At the same time, the number of Scheduled Caste post-matric scholarship beneficiaries has also decreased from 50.16 lakh to 48.04 lakh. The decline has been more rapid in OBC, EBC and DNT categories. The number of pre-matric scholarship recipients in these categories dropped from 54.95 lakh to 20.61 lakh, while the number of post-matric beneficiaries almost halved from 45.45 lakh to 24.53 lakh.

Brittas said that lakhs of students have disappeared from the scholarship list and this is not just a matter of statistics but a lost opportunity for marginalized students. Meanwhile, there are indications that the central government is preparing to change the eligibility standards of scholarship schemes. According to a report, there is a proposal to increase the annual family income limit for post-matric scholarship from the current Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh, which can be implemented from 2026-27. The government says that the process of reviewing various scholarship schemes and making comprehensive amendments in them is going on.