New Delhi:
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has flagged delays in the disbursal of scholarships to students from marginalised communities and questioned the decision to reduce the target under the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme despite previous targets not being achieved.
In its 21st Report, the Committee said scholarships meant for an academic year are often released only in the following academic year because State and Union Territory governments take “few months to a year in some cases” to time to complete the verification and other formalities. It said the problem has persisted despite repeated recommendations to ensure timely disbursal.
At the same time, the Standing Committee has questioned has questioned the decision to reduce the 2026-27 beneficiary target under the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), after the target for 2024-25 was not achieved and the Department could not provide the Committee with beneficiary details for 2025-26.
The Committee said the target for 2026-27 was reduced to 34 lakh beneficiaries, describing the approach as unacceptable and saying targets should increase every year rather than be lowered after previous targets are missed
Scholarships spilling into next academic year
The Committee said the scholarship for an academic year should be disbursed within that same academic year so that students can use the assistance when it is needed. It also mentioned “time and again” recommended measures to address the problem, but the practice continues.
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment said States and UTs that operate their own scholarship portals generally open them between July and September, while the National Scholarship Portal opens in June for eligible applicants from States and UTs onboarded on it.
It noted that the target for beneficiaries is fixed on the basis of Annual Action Plans received from States and UTs in April-May. However, the scholarship is released in the next academic year and some States and UTs are unable to complete the processing formalities as per schedule, and push details of the State share already paid to the National Scholarship Portal.
It added that if all States and UTs complete the process by the end of the third quarter and follow the prescribed schedule, the application, verification and disbursement process can be streamlined and cases spilling over into the next academic year can be reduced.
The Committee was not satisfied with this explanation.
It said the Department had again given what it described as a “routine reply” instead of finding a solution to the persistent problem.
“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,” the report stated.
The Committee reiterated that the Department must take “strict measures” to ensure completion of the process within the prescribed timeframe, warning that otherwise the trend of scholarships spilling over to the next year will continue.
The panel noted that the scholarship guidelines are being revised and that the scholarship is expected to be disbursed within the first four to five months of the academic year from 2026-27.
OBC scholarship target cut despite earlier shortfall
The Committee’s second major concern relates to the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for OBCs.
It noted that the target fixed for 2024-25 “was not achieved” and the same target was again fixed for 2025-26.
When the Committee sought to know whether the 2025-26 target had been met, it was informed that the beneficiary details were not available and would only become available when proposals for 2026-27 were received from State and UT governments.
The Committee stated it was “surprised” to find that the target for 2026-27 had nevertheless been reduced to 34 lakh beneficiaries compared with the previous two years.
The panel said the scheme can be considered successful only if the targets fixed are achieved and the target for the following year is enhanced.
“The Committee are of the opinion that the target fixed should increase every year so that the revised estimates also Increase consequently,” it noted.
Government says Rs 1,138.88 crore released
The Department said it had released Rs 1,138.88 crore out of the Rs 1,250 crore Budget Estimate for 2025-26, amounting to more than 91 per cent of the allocation.
For 2026-27, the Department has given a physical target of 33.24 lakh beneficiaries.
The Department said the schemes for continuation during the current financial cycle are under review in consultation with stakeholders, including finalisation of the scheme guidelines.
For the new financial cycle from 2026-27 to 2030-31, the Department has proposed a total outlay of Rs 20,142.23 crore for the Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC, and DNT students.
For the new financial cycle from 2026-27 to 2030-31, the government has proposed Rs 3,645.18 crore for the Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC, and DNT students in 2026-27, Rs 3,827.50 crore for 2027-28, Rs 4,018.86 crore for 2028-29, Rs 4,219.85 crore for 2029-30, and Rs 4,430.83 crore for 2030-31.
The total proposed outlay for the five-year period is Rs 20,142.23 crore.
The corresponding approved outlay for the previous financial year was Rs 3,554.50 crore, with annual allocations rising from Rs 582 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 852.50 crore in 2025-26.
SC Post-Matric Scholarship sees separate shortfall
The report separately records the performance of the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Caste students.
The Committee noted that expenditure under the scheme stood at Rs 5,476.22 crore in 2023-24, Rs 5,581.52 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 4,934.67 crore in 2025-26 up to March 24, 2026.
The number of SC students provided scholarships was 47.38 lakh in 2023-24, 48.04 lakh in 2024-25 and 36.07 lakh in 2025-26 as of March 2026.
The Committee said it could not understand how the Department planned to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio of SC students in higher education when both expenditure and the number of beneficiaries had declined in 2025-26.
It described the achievement of 36.07 lakh beneficiaries against a target of 76.55 lakh as “very poor”.
The government subsequently told the Committee that 47.53 lakh SC beneficiaries had been covered under the scheme by March 31, 2026. It said the 76.58 lakh figure was based on projections under the earlier EFC cycle, while the aggregate target submitted by States and UTs for 2025-26 was 57,64,869 beneficiaries.
The government said the Centre’s share had been disbursed to 47.53 lakh beneficiaries and attributed the difference between projected and actual numbers to non-release of State shares, delays in beneficiary verification and other procedural requirements.
Panel seeks higher allocation as scheme changes
The Committee also noted that the Department has submitted a proposal to the Expenditure Finance Committee for changes to the scheme, including the income ceiling and scholarship rates.
The panel said the proposed changes are likely to increase the number of beneficiaries significantly and, as a result, increase the financial requirement.
It said the existing budgetary allocation may not be sufficient once the proposed changes are implemented.
The Committee asked the Department to implement the proposals from 2026-27 and seek an enhancement of the budget at the Revised Estimates stage so that students do not suffer for want of funds.
It also called for the proposal to be approved urgently so that beneficiaries can receive the benefits in the 2026-27 academic year itself.
