3 months ago
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The Union Social Justice Ministry is readying to rise the yearly household income eligibility criteria for post-matric assistance schemes for Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, and Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes students from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹4.5 lakh from the 2026-27 fiscal twelvemonth onwards.
Informing a departmentally related House panel, the authorities has besides noted that wide revisions are being planned for assorted assistance schemes administered by the Social Justice and Tribal Affairs Ministries for students from SC, ST, OBC, and DNT communities.
The authorities is looking to rename the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) strategy for SC students to “Baba Saheb Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Overseas Scholarship Scheme”, summation the fig of slots nether this strategy from 125 to 250, summation the attraction allowance by 25%, and present a caller class to accommodate children of sanitary workers.
The Tribal Affairs Ministry has informed the sheet that a akin NOS strategy for ST students is besides being revised, with a connection being submitted to summation the fig of slots from 20 to 50 and rise the fiscal assistance from $15,400 to $19,250.
In summation to this, the authorities is proposing changes successful schemes specified arsenic the escaped coaching strategy for SCs and OBCs, successful which the program is to treble the fig of slots and the stipend magnitude and to let State universities to beryllium empanelled to supply coaching arsenic well. Further, the top-class scholarships for SC students beyond Class XII is being projected to beryllium changed to a “saturation-based” programme arsenic opposed to having a fixed fig of slots.
Additionally, a connection is besides being prepared to motorboat a caller strategy called “SAMRAS”, to physique “high-capacity hostels successful Central universities for SC, ST, OBC, EBC, and DNTs, and adjacent for the wide class students”.
The changes projected to the post-matric assistance for SCs besides see a proviso to acceptable speech 1% of the fund allocation for raising consciousness astir the scholarship.
These changes successful the schemes from the adjacent fiscal rhythm (2026-27 to 2030-31) onwards are being projected by the respective ministries to the Expenditure Finance Committee, which is expected to reappraisal and determine connected them successful clip for the adjacent rhythm to begin. The proposals for changes to these schemes were revealed by the authorities successful their interactions with the departmentally related lasting committee connected societal justness and empowerment.
This committee had past twelvemonth recommended that the income ceiling eligibility criteria for respective assistance schemes should beryllium accrued and had besides called for the fig of slots nether these schemes to beryllium raised. On Wednesday, successful reports connected the Demand for Grants tabled by this committee for some the Social Justice and Tribal Affairs Ministries, it noted the replies submitted by the authorities connected proposals for changes to scholarship, coaching, and hostel schemes.
Lack of coherence
The committee went connected to explicit concerns that the Social Justice Ministry’s expenditure is not gathering the Budget Estimates that are being planned astatine the opening of the fiscal year. It besides noted that a important magnitude of funds for the SC, Backward Classes, and Social Defence divisions were surrendered by the Ministry successful the 2024-25 fiscal year. However, the sheet concluded that it felt the underutilisation of funds was due to the fact that of “lack of coherence betwixt the Central and State Governments”.
In its submissions to the House panel, recorded by the committee successful the reports tabled connected Wednesday, the authorities said that nether the Post-Matric Scholarship strategy for OBCs, EBCs, and DNTs, yearly assistance amounts are being projected to beryllium raised for grade and post-graduate levels (From ₹20,000 to ₹25,000), nonrecreational courses starring to degrees, diplomas, and certificates (from ₹13,000 to ₹15,000), and for Class XI and XII levels (from ₹5,000 to ₹7,000).
In addition, nether this scheme, an further magnitude of ₹2,000 per annum volition beryllium for method and vocational courses being pursued astatine the Class XI and XII levels.
Further, nether the escaped coaching strategy for SCs and OBCs, the authorities is proposing to summation the fig of slots from 3,500 to 7,000. Of these caller full slots, the section is readying to support 3,000 slots for Central universities and 2,000 for State universities. In addition, determination are plans to present a “student-centric mode”, nether which students tin take to survey astatine coaching centres of their choice, for which the remaining 2,000 slots volition beryllium reserved.
In its study connected the Demand for Grants for Social Justice Ministry, the House sheet noted that the NAMASTE strategy for addressing deaths owed to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks needs much allocations, further expressing “shock” that contempt implicit 3 decades of the Prevention of Atrocities Act (SC/ST Act) being successful place, “only 7 States/union territories person peculiar constabulary stations”.
The committee says that among proposals sent to the EFC for the adjacent cycle, the authorities besides intends to summation the alleviation amounts that are paid to victims and their families nether this instrumentality and rise funds sent to States for mounting up peculiar constabulary stations.
