A parliamentary standing committee has flagged persistent delays in scholarships for Scheduled Caste (SC) students, poor utilisation of a free coaching scheme for SC and Other Backward Classes (OBC) students, and gaps in the infrastructure and functioning of education facilities created in minority areas.
Key Factors
It rejected the ministry’s explanation that the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) opens in June and states require time for verification before the Centre’s share can be released.
The committee said scholarship beneficiaries continue to face delays because some states take “a few months to a year” to complete verification and other formalities.
Outlook
The committee has reiterated its demand to reconsider the ₹8 lakh annual family-income ceiling, saying it may be restricting access. The panel has also questioned the government’s decision to double the target to 7,000 coaching slots in 2026-27 despite the previous year’s poor performance.
“The Committee are disheartened with the reply as they had expected the Department to find some solution to the persisting problem, but the students have again been left at the mercy of the States,” it said, reiterating that scholarships should be disbursed within the same academic year in which they fall due. “The Committee strongly feel that the total family income criterion fixed for SC and OBC students may be one of the major hurdles preventing candidates from these categories from availing the benefits,” it said. The ministry said only 14 central universities are currently providing coaching and proposed involving state universities and introducing a “Student-Centric Mode” to widen access. The committee said guideline changes alone would not resolve these issues. It called for a “robust monitoring and accountability mechanism”, mandatory third-party evaluations and social audits. The committee said, “The continued shortfall in achieving even 25% of the set targets is a matter of serious concern.”
