89 lakh drop in SC, ST, OBC scholarship beneficiaries; experts blame Aadhaar link, tech glitches, delays

NSP, SSP Scholarships: Around 89 lakh beneficiaries have fallen off nine government scholarship schemes for historically-marginalised communities, the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (SC, ST, OBC) between 2020-21 and 2024-25, shows data from the ministry of social justice and empowerment. The schemes include Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarships.

The minister for social justice and empowerment, BL Verma shared the data with Rajya Sabha, in response to a question from Rajasthan MP Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik.

Careers360 analysed six broad schemes which have had the highest number of beneficiaries over the years, including the following:

• Pre-Matric Scholarship for SCs and others
• Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs & Others
• Pre and Post Matric Scholarship for OBCs/ EBCs/ DNT students
• Pre and Post Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribes (ST)

We also analysed three smaller schemes which have witnessed a decline in beneficiaries – Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SHRESHTA), Free Coaching for SCs, OBCs and beneficiaries of PM-Cares Children Scheme (FCS) and Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy.

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The Pre-Matric Scholarship for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) / Economically Backward Class (EBCs)/De-notified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNTs) saw the most dramatic fall between 2020-21 and 2024-25 – a 76% decline with 42 lakh fewer beneficiaries over five years. The scheme, under the umbrella scheme of Prime Minister Young Achievers Scholarship Award Scheme for Vibrant India (PM-YASASVI), covers school and hostel fees Class 9 and 10 students from these communities. Similarly, Post-Matric Scholarship for OBCs/EBCs/DNTs saw a 65.8% decline in beneficiaries from 2020-21 and 2024-25.

While other scholarships also saw decline over the same period, activists cite measures like making Aadhaar mandatory – implemented from 2019-20 onwards – and online procedure behind the reason for the decrease. Ironically, the decrease has come after the new National Education Policy (NEP 2020) was adopted; the NEP recommends strengthening of financial aid schemes.

A 2023 Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s report on implementation of direct benefit transfer (DBT) in payment of Post Matric scholarship to students in Odisha highlighted “the coverage had gone down due to mandatory use of Aadhaar for submission of scholarship applications from 2019-20 onwards”. It added that “No efforts were made towards integration of scheme software payment data with the state DBT portal, resulting in gaps between the number of beneficiaries and the amount disbursed”.

Central and state governments share the funding of scholarships in a 60:40 ratio with 60% share from the centre and 40% from the states.

Budget allocation for 2025-26 saw increased allocation to Pre and Post Matric Scholarships for SC, STs and OBCs.

PMS Scholarships for SC, ST, OBC

Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBCs/EBCs/DNTs saw a decrease of 32.62 lakh beneficiaries. In the following years of 2023-24 and 2024-25, the scheme saw a drop of 7.56 lakh and 5.44 lakh beneficiaries, respectively. The scheme had the highest number of beneficiaries in 2020-21 with 55 lakh and lowest in 2024-25 with 13 lakh. The scheme, over the five years, saw a decline of 42 lakh beneficiaries.

The Narendra Modi-led government revised the conditions and guidelines for the Pre-Matric Scholarship in 2021-22 to exclude children from Classes 1 to 8. The government explained its decision saying compulsory education for that age group is already covered by the provisions of the Right to Education Act.

The Post-Matric scholarships for OBCs/EBCs/DNTs witnessed a decline of 30 lakh beneficiaries between 2020-21 and 2024-25. The highest numbers were witnessed in 2020-21 and the lowest in 2024-25. A sharp decline in number of beneficiaries was seen between 2021-22 and 2022-23 with a 52.6% drop – 19.99 lakh fewer beneficiaries.

Kiran Kumar Gowd, president of All India OBC Students Association (AIOBCSA), said the scholarship system is getting more and more difficult to navigate. “The delay in allocation of funds and its disbursal causes students their whole education years. And sometimes the delay is more than a year. If the student doesn't get their scholarship on time, it's of no use.”

Pre Matric Scholarship for STs saw a decline of 33.8% from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The highest number of beneficiaries was in 2021-22 with 14.04 lakh beneficiaries. However, the lowest was two years later, in 2023-24. The scheme saw a very sharp decline of 30.3% in beneficiaries between 2021-22 and 2022-3. The scheme has witnessed a year-on-year decline since 2020-21.

Pre-Matric Scholarship for SCs and Others from 2020-21 to 2024-25 saw a decline of 30.6% with 9,56,714 beneficiaries. The lowest number was seen in 2022-23 with 11,34,268 and highest in 2020-21 with 31,22,697. At 4.2%, the net decrease from 2020-21 to 2024-25 was the lowest amongst all schemes over five years. The lowest number of beneficiaries for the scheme was in 2021-22 and the highest in 2020-21.

The table below shows the number of beneficiaries over the five years.

Pre and Post Matric Scholarships for SC, ST, OBC, others

Minority Scholarships: Smaller schemes

The SHRESHTA scheme saw a decline of 62.7% beneficiaries between 2020-21 and 2024-25. The sharpest decline was in 2021-22 with a 46.6% decrease from the previous year. The highest number of beneficiaries was seen in 2020-21 and lowest in 2024-25. This scheme has also seen a gradual year-on-year decline over five years. It covers school and hostel fees of SC students with annual income up to Rs 2.5 lakh, including access to quality residential education in top private schools. Students are selected through a national entrance test (SHRESHTA-NETS) conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

In the smaller share of beneficiaries, Free Coaching for SCs, OBCs and PM Cares Children scheme saw a sharp decline of 89.4% between 2020-21 and 2023-24. However, it saw the highest recovery in 2024-25 with 2,136 students joining the scheme.

Also read Modi Government spent less than 20% of budget for minority scholarships in 2024-2025

Dr Ambedkar Central Sector Scheme of Interest Subsidy saw a sharp decline of 81% between 2020-21 and 2024-25. The steepest was seen between 2023-24 and 2024-25 with a 70% drop in the number of beneficiaries. The highest was in 2021-22 with 6,564 beneficiaries and lowest in 2024-25 with just 827.

SHRESHTA, Coaching, Interest Subsidy Schemes: Number of beneficiaries

NSP, SSP Scholarships: Aadhaar problem, disbursal delay

While the CAG report stated that the number of beneficiaries declined due to mandatory use of Aadhaar for submission of scholarships, it also listed “lack of adequate capacity building measures, issues relating to coverage of beneficiaries, deficient scrutiny of applications, delay in processing including continued leakages in disbursement of benefits” as contributing factors.

The report found that since the introduction of Aadhaar in 2017, the total number of students covered under Pre Matric Scholarships “decreased by 19%, from 5.51 lakh in 2017-18 to 4.47 lakh in 2020-21. Similarly, the percentage of ST students applying for PMS reduced from 67% in 2017-18 to 59% in 2020-21”.

R Christodas Gandhi, former additional chief secretary of Government of Tamil Nadu, cited delay in funds disbursal as another issue. “Some technological issue from the central government is causing delays in the funds and leading to a lesser number of beneficiaries each year. This led to chaos in the system.”

Scholarships are managed through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP scholarship) and the State Scholarship Portal (SSP Scholarship).

Gandhi further explained: “They have computerised so many things which are irrelevant. This also includes centralisation of the details of beneficiaries. The central government wants to look into every student’s profile.” He stated that the central government has not paid its share to Tami Nadu beneficiaries for the last two years. When asked, the state blamed technological problems.

Beena Pallickal, activist with the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, said while the budgets for these scholarships have increased, document issues and delay in funds persist, hindering students' access to scholarships.

“Issues like Aadhaar address mismatch or some document issue will always be there. Overall the logistics of the system doesn't work,” she said, adding that both the centre and states blame each other for the delay in fund disbursal. They fail to understand that scholarships are for students who already belong to the marginalised and vulnerable sections.

NEP 2020: Failed implementation

“The government has failed to implement what they articulated in National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 on inclusion of Social and Economically Disadvantaged Groups in the education system,” said Gowd. “There is a lack of clarity on the allocation or disbursal of scholarships or scholarship infrastructure. There are no checks and balances on how much is actually going to the students,” he added.

Gandhi highlights lack of consultation between states and relevant stakeholders. “The government of India implemented DBT [direct benefit transfer] without any consultative process with the states or stakeholders. And it is stomping over the autonomy of states. It is the responsibility of the states to transfer the funds to students on time but the government of India is denying the rights of the states by centralising everything,” he said.

The NEP 2020 talks about inclusion of backward groups but it doesn't explain how to actually fund their education. “Further there is no intention of the government to actually support the marginalised students,” said Kumar.