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The Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey informed the Rajya Sabha today that Scholarship Division, Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing the following Scholarship Schemes to promote and encourage higher education amongst ST population:
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The Scholarship schemes mentioned above at Sl. No. (i) is Centrally Sponsored Scheme and implemented through respective States/UTs of the Country. The Post Matric Scholarship Scheme is an open-ended scheme wherein scholarship is given to all eligible students, without any ceiling limit on the number of selections, for pursuing studies from class 11th to post-Graduation courses whose parental income is not more than Rs. 2.5 lakh per annum. The inviting of applications, verification, selection of beneficiaries and disbursement of scholarship amount is the primary responsibility of the respective States/UTs. Based on the proposals submitted by States/UTs and after examining requisite documents & necessary compliance, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs releases central share of funds to States/UTs. Further, the respective State Governments/Union Territory Administrations disburse the scholarship amount to all the eligible ST Student's into their bank account through DBT mode. Since, these schemes are implemented by the respective States/UTs, the information regarding pending dues payable to colleges/universities is not available with this Ministry.
The National Scholarship for Higher Education for ST students (Top Class) mentioned at Sl.No.(ii) is a Central Sector Scheme implemented directly by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Under this Scheme, Scholarship is provided for pursuing Graduate/Post Graduate courses in the selected top-class 265 Government and Non-Government Institutes in professional fields such as Management, Medicine, Engineering, Information Technology, Law etc. All the ST students, with their annual parental income not exceeding Rs.6.0 lakhs and studying in the 265 notified institutes by the Ministry, are eligible to receive scholarship. The details regarding pending dues to students and colleges/universities under this scheme is given at Annexure-I.
The National Fellowship for ST students (NFST) mentioned above at Sl. No.(iii) is Central Sector Scheme implemented directly by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to provide fellowship to meritorious ST students for pursuing M.Phil./Ph.D. after completion of their Master's Degree. Under the Scheme, 750 fresh fellowships are awarded every year. Fellowships are released to ST students through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode after due verification and approval of certificates like continuation certificates, House Rent Allowance (HRA) and contingency claims approved/submitted by the concerned universities/institutions. Currently, there is no pending claims forwarded by the Universities/Institutions to this Ministry for releasing the Fellowship amount under NFST.
The National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) for ST students mentioned at Sl. No.(iv) is a Central Sector Scheme implemented through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The scholarship amount is released to ST students/Institutes through Indian Embassies. Further, based on the vouchers/bills submitted by the MEA regarding payment made by the Embassies to the selected ST students/Institutions, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs reimburse the funds to MEA. At present, there is no pending dues payable to colleges, universities and other higher-education institutions on behalf of students enrolled under the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) for ST students.
(c) The Ministry is continuously monitoring the status of pending payments and taking up the matter with the concerned institutions for completion of the requisite PFMS compliance, so that admissible payments may be released expeditiously to the concerned Institutes and Beneficiaries.
The Ministry is also undertaking timely verification and processing of applications received through the National Scholarship Portal, including institutional verification and Ministry-level verification, and is taking necessary steps for early resolution of deficiencies and discrepancies observed in the applications.
Annexure-I
Under the National Scholarship Scheme (Top Class) for Higher Education of ST students, scholarship amount is released to the selected ST students under two components, as per given details:
Component-I: Stipend @ Rs.36000/- per annum, Books & stationary @ Rs.5000/- per annuum and Laptop allowance @ Rs.45000/- once in the course. The amount under this component is directly released into the bank accounts of the selected ST students through DBT.
Component – II: Tuition Fee and Admission Fee for Govt. Institutes as per actuals. For Private Institutions there is a ceiling limit of Rs.2.5 Lakhs per annum. The amount under this component is released to the respective University/Institution through PFMS.
Component wise pendency under National Scholarship Scheme (Top Class) for Higher Education of ST students is given below: -
A. Component I - Pending dues to Students for Living/Misc. allowances
The scheme of ‘National Scholarship for Higher Education for ST students (Top Class)’ is administered centrally and there is no provision for earmarking budget/slots on State/Union Territory-wise. Therefore, the cases of delayed payment are tracked centrally and not separately on State/Union Territory-wise basis. Accordingly, consolidated numbers of ST students whose scholarship disbursement was delayed under the scheme during the last five years, i.e. from Academic Year 2021-22 to 2025-26, are as under:-
Pending dues to Students
Sl.
No
Academic
Year
No. of Students
Reason for Failed/ Delayed
payment
1
2021-22
Fresh – Nil;
Renewal – Nil
Nil
2
2022-23
Fresh – 3;
Renewal – 1
Aadhaar seeding and bank account linking-related issues of beneficiaries.
3
2023-24
Fresh – 5;
Renewal – 10
Aadhaar seeding and bank account linking-related issues of beneficiaries.
4
2024-25
Fresh – 17;
Renewal – 11
Aadhaar seeding and bank account linking-related issues of beneficiaries.
5
2025-26
Fresh & Renewal
applications
Under process.
B. Component II - Pending dues to Colleges/ Universities/ Higher Educational Institutions
The details of pending dues payable to colleges, universities and other higher educational institutions under the National Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students Scheme (Top Class Scheme), during the last five years are as under: -
Academic Year 2021-22: There are no pending dues payable to colleges, universities and other higher educational institutions in respect of the Academic Year 2021-22. Payments have been released to all eligible institutions upon fulfilment of the requisite requirements and compliances prescribed under the Scheme Guidelines.
Academic Year 2022-23: There are no pending dues payable to colleges, universities and other higher educational institutions in respect of the Academic Year 2022-23. Payments have been released to all eligible institutions upon fulfilment of the requisite requirements and compliances under the Scheme Guidelines.
Academic Year 2023-24: Payments have been released to the eligible institutions which fulfilled the requisite requirements under the Scheme Guidelines and completed the prescribed PFMS/EAT compliances. However, payment in respect of the following institutions is pending due to non-fulfilment of the requisite compliances, including clearance/updation of unspent balances reflected in the PFMS portal:
Pending dues to Institutes
Category
No. of College / Universities /
Higher Education Institutions
No. of
enrolled students
Pending Tuition/ Admission fee payable to Institutes (in Rs.)
Fresh
3
10
15,93,073
Renewal
2
6
92,000
Academic Year 2024-25: Payment is under process in respect of eligible institutions which have fulfilled the requisite requirements under the Scheme Guidelines and completed the prescribed PFMS/EAT compliances. However, payment in respect of the following institutions is pending due to non-fulfilment of the requisite compliances, including clearance/updation of unspent balances reflected in the PFMS portal:
Pending dues to Institutes
Category
No. of College / Universities /
Higher Education Institutions
No. of
enrolled students
Pending Tuition/ Admission fee payable to Institutes (in Rs.)
Fresh
87
1439
15,99,60,583
Renewal
57
1088
4,22,53,452
Academic Year 2025-26: Under this scheme, the applications called are subject to the prescribed red-flag and sanity-check processes for identification of potentially ineligible/ irregular applications. The said process has recently been completed and accordingly the final merit/selection list has been published on the website of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA). The Ministry has now started the process for release of scholarship amount to the eligible beneficiaries.
RN
Official source
[Read the original PIB release](https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2294705)
Source attribution: Press Information Bureau, Government of India.