Urgent need to revise income criteria for Post Matric scholarship for SC students: Parliament panel

New Delhi: There is an “urgent need” to revisit the income limit of Rs 2.5 lakh annually for grant of Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme for Scheduled Castes (SCs) to cover more students, said a Parliamentary standing committee report submitted on Friday. The income limit of Rs 2.5 lakh for the PMS scheme has not been revised since 2013-14 and would continue to remain effective till 2025-26.

The amount disbursed is between Rs 2,500 and Rs 13,500 annually, depending on level of education is “very crucial” for SC students to continue or pursue their higher studies, said the standing committee on social justice and empowerment. The panel has also suggested the central government to increase the scholarship amount.

The Post Matric Scholarship for SCs is a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) managed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE). It is implemented with the support from states and union territories. The state governments invite applications under the scheme through their respective online portals.

For being eligible for the PMS scholarship, the parents’ or guardians’ income of the SC student from all sources should not exceed Rs 2.50 lakh per annum and he or she should be studying in recognized post-matriculation or post-secondary courses in a recognised institution.

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The committee has suggested that the central government “develop a suitable mechanism for periodic revision of scholarship to absorb the effect of inflation".

The panel in its March 2022 report had termed Rs 2.5 lakh income criteria as “a serious hurdle for many of the needy students” and asked the MoSJE to revise the income criteria. The Ministry in its reply in July 2022 informed the panel that “there is no proposal at present to revise the income criteria under this Scheme at this stage.”

Post-Matric scholarship for SC students

The scheme aims to increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) of SC students in higher education with a focus on those from the poorest households by providing financial assistance at post-matriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education.

Calculated for 18-23 years age group, gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education in India is 27.1 percent but 23.4 percent for Scheduled Castes. The GER is the percentage of students enrolled out of the total population of youths in that age bracket. According to the July 4, 2022 report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on education, women, children, youth and sports, GER for the male population at the all-India level is 26.9 percent but 22.8 percent for SC men; similarly for women, the overall GER is 27.3 percent but 24.1 percent for SC women. India has set a target to achieve 50 percent GER targets in higher education by 2035.

An October 2021 report by National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) found that the post-matric scholarship for SC students remained under-funded for years. For 2021-22, Rs 3917.78 crore has been released by the central government to 30,65,619 SCs beneficiaries pursuing the degree/diploma courses in 78,307 institutions of India.

In December 2020, the government asserted that the scheme will benefit more than 4 crore SC students in the next 5 years.

UGC and national fellowship for SCs

The panel found that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has projected less requirement of funds under National Fellowship for SCs.

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The committee in its March 2022 report had said that “low utilization” of funds sanctioned not only keeps the funds idle but also deprives the students belonging to marginalized sections of the society for getting education opportunities.

MoSJE in its reply in July 2022 said that the UGC had projected a requirement of funds of Rs 122.39 crore only for the year 2021-22 under National Fellowship for SCs and the said amount was released to UGC. In the year 2021-22, a total of 1932 students were selected for fellowship.

National Fellowship scheme for SC students, is a Central Sector Scheme introduced during the financial year 2005-06 to provide opportunities to Scheduled Castes students for pursuing higher education leading to M. Phil/PhD. UGC has transferred the responsibility of implementing the scheme to MoSJE.