The post-matric scholarship scheme for students from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) is open-ended and demand-driven, and the Centre has no proposal to discontinue it, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said.
Responding to an unstarred question from Villupuram Member of Parliament D. Ravikumar, Mr. Athawale said the objective of the schemes was to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of SC and ST students in higher education, and that there was no plan to scrap it.
Both scholarships are being implemented with the funding pattern in the scheme guidelines, as per the approval of the Expenditure Finance Committee and the Cabinet, and is valid from the fiscal 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Mr. Athawale said the funding pattern (sharing ratio between Centre and State/UT) under the scheme for SC students was 60:40 between the Centre and States, except the North-Eastern States, where it was 90:10. For ST students, the funding ratio was 75:25 between the Centre and the States.
The respective State governments / U.T. administrations added their share of 25% and released the scholarship amount directly into the bank accounts of the students, through Direct Benefit Transfer, in a single instalment.
Published – July 23, 2025 07:21 pm IST
