Funds for Scholarships for Students From Marginalised Communities Underutilised, Govt Data Shows

The number of SC pre-matric scholarship beneficiaries, as per the government data, Brittas pointed out, fell from 31.22 lakh in 2020-21 to 21.65 lakh in 2024-25, while SC post-matric beneficiaries declined from 50.16 lakh to 48.04 lakh.

The Wire Staff

funds for scholarships for students from marginalised communities underutilised govt data shows

CPI(M) MP John Brittas speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Winter session of parliament in New Delhi on December 10. Photo: Sansad TV via PTI.

New Delhi: Funds allocated for students from Scheduled Castes (SC), other backward classes (OBC), economically backward classes (EBC) and denotified tribes (DNT) have been underutilised, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M))Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas alleged, based on the government’s figures revealed in response to a question in parliament.

In a written reply to a question on Wednesday (March 11), Ramdas Athawale, the minister of state for social justice and empowerment, informed the Rajya Sabha about the various scholarship schemes for SC, OBC, EBC and DNT students in higher education, and the allocation and utilisation of the scholarship funds.

“Thousands of crores meant for SC, OBC, EBC and DNT students’ scholarships remain unspent,” Brittas said in a post on X.

A.Thousands of crores meant for SC, OBC, EBC and DNT students’ scholarships remain unspent.
For SC & OBC scholarships:
2021-22: Rs. 4,446.24 cr spent vs Rs. 6,220.62 cr allocated
2022-23: Rs. 6,372.38 cr vs Rs. 8,165 cr
2023-24 : Rs. 7,762.82 cr vs Rs. 8,874.14 cr
2024-25… pic.twitter.com/h2uw6P61Sr
— John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) March 12, 2026

According to the data provided, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment was allocated Rs 14,164.42 crore but only Rs 8,679.02 crore was spent in 2024-25.

Of this, Rs 9,163.98 crore was allocated for but Rs 8,008.79 crore was spent. Similarly, Rs 8,874.14 crore was allocated but Rs 7,762.82 crore was spent in 2023-24, and Rs 8,165 crore was allocated versus Rs 6,372.38 crore spent. In 2021-22, Rs 4,446.24 crore was spent against an allocation of Rs 6,220.62 crore, the data showed.

Brittas also pointed out that there has been a significant decline in scholarship beneficiaries across categories.

The number of SC pre-matric scholarship beneficiaries, as per the government data, he pointed out, fell from 31.22 lakh in 2020-21 to 21.65 lakh in 2024-25, while SC post-matric beneficiaries declined from 50.16 lakh to 48.04 lakh. The drop was steeper among OBC/EBC/DNT students: pre-matric beneficiaries fell from 54.95 lakh to 20.61 lakh, and post-matric beneficiaries from 45.45 lakh to 24.53 lakh.

“Millions of students have simply disappeared from scholarship rolls. For marginalized students, this is not just a statistic - it is lost opportunity,” he said.

Meanwhile, The Hindu reported that the Union social justice ministry also said that it is planning to raise the annual family income eligibility criteria for post-matric scholarship schemes for students from marginalised categories from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh from the 2026-27 fiscal year onwards.

Informing a departmentally related House panel, the government has also noted that widespread revisions are being planned for various scholarship schemes administered for students from SC, ST, OBC, and DNT communities, the report said.

This article went live on March thirteenth, two thousand twenty six, at thirteen minutes past one in the afternoon.

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