Modi govt withholds scholarships for majority of SC, ST, poor students, cites fund shortage
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has issued scholarship award letters to less than 40% of the selected candidates under the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) scheme for the academic year 2025–26, citing lack of funds. According to The Wire, only 40 out of 106 selected candidates have received provisional scholarship letters, while the remaining 66 are told their awards “may be issued… subject to availability of funds.”
The ministry said it has not yet received clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In previous years, all selected candidates received their scholarship letters at once, but this year, the ministry is sending letters in phases, reportedly due to funding uncertainty.
The NOS programme, instituted in 1954–55, offers financial support to students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Denotified Nomadic Tribes (DNT), semi-nomadic tribes, landless agricultural labourers, and traditional artisan families, with an annual income below ₹8 lakh.
An official from the ministry told Hindustan Times that the funds are available, but final disbursal requires approval from the cabinet panel. “We have the money, but we also need the green signal from above to give it out,” the official said.
Repeated Scholarship Disruptions
The Wire reports that this is not an isolated incident. Over 1,400 PhD scholars under the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) scheme have faced delayed stipends since January 2025. In some cases, payments have not been made since late 2024. The MANF supports researchers from six notified minority communities—Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi.
Delays and confusion have also plagued the National Fellowship for Scheduled Castes. The National Testing Agency initially released a list of 865 selected candidates in March 2025. However, in April, a revised list cut the number to 805 and removed 487 names that were previously included.
Rahul Gandhi Writes to PM
On June 10, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Modi highlighting the poor conditions of hostels and irregularities in scholarship disbursements. He pointed out that students from Dalit, Adivasi, EBC, OBC, and minority communities have been disproportionately affected.
He cited the example of Bihar, where the state scholarship portal remained inactive for three consecutive years, leading to zero disbursals for the 2021–22 academic year. Gandhi also noted that the number of Dalit students receiving scholarships had nearly halved—from 1.36 lakh in FY23 to 69,000 in FY24—and described the current scholarship amounts as “insultingly low.”
With multiple schemes now in disarray, students from historically disadvantaged communities are left facing uncertainty over their academic futures.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
