Underfunding of Post-Matric Scholarships TAXCONCEPT

The Department provides financial assistance to SC students for Post-Matric Scholarship studies in India under two schemes i.e. the Centrally Sponsored Post-matric Scholarship Scheme for SC students (PMS-SC) and the Central Sector Top Class Scholarship Scheme for SC students. The funds allocated under these two schemes in the past three years have increased, the details of which are provided as follows:

Year	Budget Allocated under the Scheme (Rs. in Cr)
2019-20	2967.30
2020-21	3027.30
2021-22	3485.62

There is no State wise allocation of funds under Top Class Scholarship Scheme for SC Students as this is a Central Sector Scheme.

Under Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC Students, the Central Assistance is released based on the demand proposed in Annual Action Plans received from the States/UTs after adjusting the unspent balance amount of previous years. The details of State-wise demand made for grants under PMS-SC and the Central Assistance released are attached as Annexure.

With the latest revision under the schemes, the budget allocation under the schemes is provisioned to be increased annually.

The Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC students has recently been revised in FY 2020-21 for a period of 6 years i.e. till 2026. The Top Class Scholarship Scheme for SC Students has also been revised in FY 2021-22 for a period of 5 years i.e. till 2026. Therefore, at present, there is no plan under consideration to modify the present scholarship schemes.

Annexure

State-wise Demand and Central Assistance released during 2019-20 to 2021-22

S. No.	States/Uts	2019-20*		2020-21^		2021-22
		Annual Demand submitted by State/UT	Central Assistance released	Annual Demand submitted by State/UT	Central Assistance released	Annual Demand submitted by State/UT	Central Assistance released
1	Andhra Pradesh	731.4	287.67	472.6	450.01	725	298.55
2	Assam	19.9	0	26.63	18	21.89	0
3	Bihar	91.26	0	93.16	47.83	203.95	0
4	Chandigarh	3.42	0	0	0	3.6	1.54
5	Chhattisgarh	55.32	3.27	54	38.54	59.23	29.00
6	Daman & Diu	0.03	0	0.33	0	0.39	0
7	Delhi	19.96	1.97	0	0	17.95	0
8	Goa	0.06	0	0	0	0	0
9	Gujarat	324.61	0	284.55	170.32	325	102.58
10	Haryana	46.48	0	0	0	134.97	0
11	Himachal Pradesh	16.98	0	31.98	11.35	54.92	0
12	Jammu & Kashmir	16.34	0	0	0	13.15	0.03
13	Jharkhand	23.15	0	22.74	13.42	26.9	4.12
14	Karnataka	447.41	121.47	411.08	252.79	522.04	65.42
15	Kerala	154.44	9.8	144.75	86.85	149.87	45.78
16	Madhya Pradesh	463.18	0	390.64	319.4	583	8.28
17	Maharashtra	910.07	0	930.21	558	1161.96	63.01
18	Manipur	7.94	7.94	7.66	6.89	7.85	0
19	Odisha	314.94	140.71	285.63	130.67	285.34	78.22
20	Puducherry	14.66	0	8.95	2.21	15.96	0
21	Punjab	433.57	206.47	521.26	191.58	547.32	209.76
22	Rajasthan	458.05	314.54	420.54	284.01	455.23	95.67
23	Sikkim	1.04	1.04	1.16	0.81	1.12	0
24	Tamilnadu	1245.38	925.84	1471.99	120.23	1282.55	278.88
25	Telangana	437.55	0	433.42	245.03	430.71	0
26	Tripura	33.8	35.42	27.17	30.37	38.18	0
27	Uttar Pradesh	2037.14	655.16	1977.25	892.36	1993.21	537.28
28	Uttrakhand	22.59	0	25.99	9.76	19.51	0
29	West Bengal	237.71	0	251.44	128.17	249.04	112.26
TOTAL		8568.38	2711.3	8295.13	4008.6	9329.84	1930.38

*The Scheme was based on the concept of committed liability prior to 2020-21 wherein, 100% Central Assistance was released to States/UTs over & above the Committed Liability of the States/UTs. No funds were released to States/UTs either whose demand was within their Committed Liability or who did not furnish the proposals.

^ The Scheme was revised during 2020-21 wherein fixed sharing pattern of 60:40 (90:10 in case of NE States) between Centre and States has been adopted. Central Assistance was released to States/UTs who submitted the proposals for 2020-21.

This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri A. Narayanaswamy in the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today.

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