Shift In Welfare Priorities: No Fresh Minority Scholarships Since 2022, Centre Informs Parliament

Students from India's six notified minority communities have not been able to apply for fresh scholarships under the Union government's flagship minority education schemes for nearly four years, Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju has confirmed in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. No new beneficiaries have been admitted under the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme and Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme since the 2022-23 academic year, while students already covered under these schemes continued to receive their remaining payments.

The answers came in response to a series of questions by Virendra Singh of the Samajwadi Party in the Lok Sabha seeking details of the Ministry of Minority Affairs' welfare schemes, whether any programmes had been discontinued, the challenges in implementing existing schemes and the steps taken to ensure transparency and accountability. In its reply, the government not only confirmed the discontinuation of fresh scholarships but also outlined the programmes that now form the core of its minority welfare strategy.

The Member of Parliament had also asked whether the Ministry's schemes were reaching minorities in rural and backward areas, the challenges in implementing them and the measures taken to improve transparency. The government's reply addresses each of these issues alongside the status of discontinued scholarship schemes.

On the question of outreach, Rijiju said the benefits of its schemes are extended across the country, including rural and backward areas, through State governments, Union Territory administrations, project implementing agencies and implementing institutions, with emphasis on economically weaker sections of the six notified minority communities. It also said PM VIKAS covers beneficiaries from both rural and urban areas, while NMDFC's concessional credit schemes are implemented at the grassroots level through State Channelising Agencies.

The decision marks a change in the Ministry's approach to educational support. For over a decade, the three scholarship schemes were the Ministry's flagship scholarship programmes for students belonging to the country's notified minority communities—Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis.

According to official data released earlier by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the government awarded 5.85 crore Pre-Matric scholarships, 73.52 lakh Post-Matric scholarships and 11.70 lakh Merit-cum-Means scholarships between 2012-13 and 2021-22. In all, more than 6.69 crore scholarships were sanctioned during the ten-year period, averaging nearly 67 lakh scholarships every year, according to government figures.

No Fresh Scholarships Since 2022

The parliamentary reply states that the three schemes "were not approved for continuation beyond Academic Year 2021-22 following a comprehensive review". It adds that no fresh scholarships have been awarded thereafter, although payments due to renewal beneficiaries for the 2022-23 academic year were released in accordance with the existing guidelines.

The three schemes supported students at different stages of education. The Pre-Matric Scholarship covered students from Classes 1 to 10, the Post-Matric Scholarship supported studies beyond Class 10, including undergraduate and postgraduate courses, while the Merit-cum-Means Scholarship helped students enrolled in professional and technical courses. Together, they formed the Ministry's principal education intervention for minority students.

The Lok Sabha reply also confirms that the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) remains closed to new entrants from the 2022-23 financial year. Scholars already selected under the fellowship, however, will continue to receive financial assistance until the completion of their approved tenure.

Unlike the three scholarship schemes, which primarily supported school and college students, MANF was intended for research scholars pursuing MPhil and PhD degrees. Introduced in 2009, it was modelled on the University Grants Commission's Junior Research Fellowship and provided financial support to minority research scholars.

According to official data shared by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, 6,722 scholars were selected under MANF between 2014-15 and 2021-22. During this period, the government disbursed ₹738.85 crore under the fellowship, averaging more than 800 research scholars and around ₹92 crore in annual expenditure. While the fellowship was smaller than the school and college scholarship schemes in terms of beneficiaries, it occupied a distinct place in the Ministry's education portfolio because it was specifically designed to encourage minority participation in higher education and academic research.

The Centre has maintained that MANF was discontinued because it overlapped with existing fellowship schemes. In earlier parliamentary replies, the government said the fellowship overlapped with existing schemes such as the UGC Junior Research Fellowship, CSIR fellowships and fellowships administered by the Ministries of Social Justice and Tribal Affairs. According to the government, minority students continue to be eligible for these fellowships if they satisfy the prescribed criteria, making a separate minority-specific fellowship unnecessary.

The latest Lok Sabha reply, however, provides little detail about the "comprehensive review" that led to the discontinuation of the three scholarship schemes. While it confirms that the review was carried out, it does not disclose its findings, explain why the schemes were not continued beyond 2021-22 or indicate whether the government assessed the likely impact of ending fresh scholarships for future applicants.

Instead, much of the government's response focuses on to the schemes that continue to operate under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, suggesting a broader change in the Ministry's welfare priorities.

Focus Shifts to Infrastructure and Skill Development

According to the Lok Sabha reply, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) is one of the Ministry's flagship programmes. Originally conceived to improve infrastructure in minority-concentration areas, the scheme now supports schools, hostels, health centres, drinking water, sanitation, women-centric community assets, sports infrastructure and skill development centres.

The Ministry told Parliament that PMJVK has led to the creation of more than 5.10 lakh infrastructure units, with the Centre's share amounting to ₹16,251 crore.

The reply also highlights PM VIKAS, which focuses on skill development, entrepreneurship and livelihood support. According to the Ministry, 59 Project Implementing Agencies have been entrusted with training programmes across 31 States and Union Territories, covering a target of 1.56 lakh beneficiaries. Of these, 32,138 candidates have so far completed training and are ready for assessment, the government said.

The Ministry also pointed to concessional loans offered through the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) for education, self-employment and income-generating activities. It further listed the Jiyo Parsi scheme, which provides financial assistance for fertility treatment, childcare and related support to address the declining population of the Parsi community.

Taken together, the programmes listed in the parliamentary reply reflect a different mix of welfare interventions from those that existed until 2021-22. While the Ministry's earlier flagship initiatives largely centred on direct financial assistance for students at school, college and research levels, the schemes now highlighted by the government are largely aimed at infrastructure creation, vocational training, entrepreneurship, credit support and community development. The Lok Sabha reply does not state that one set of programmes has replaced the other, but it shows that these are now the Ministry's principal continuing initiatives.

Implementation and Transparency

The questions raised in Parliament also sought details of the challenges faced in implementing minority welfare programmes and the measures adopted to improve transparency. On implementation, the Ministry acknowledged that delays in executing approved PMJVK projects remain the principal challenge. It said these delays arise largely because project execution rests with State governments and Union Territory administrations, which are responsible for awarding contracts, monitoring construction and submitting utilisation certificates.

To address these issues, the Ministry said it has introduced end-to-end digital processing, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Aadhaar-based verification, geo-tagging, third-party inspections, periodic audits and digital monitoring through the NIGRANI portal to track PMJVK projects. It said scholarship payments, while the schemes were operational, were made through DBT and Aadhaar-based verification.

The reply also states that financial irregularities, where detected, are referred to the appropriate authorities, including the filing of First Information Reports (FIRs) where necessary, while unspent funds can be recovered from implementing agencies.

The parliamentary response answers several of the questions raised in the Lok Sabha but leaves some important issues unaddressed. While the government attributes the discontinuation of the three scholarship schemes to a "comprehensive review", it does not place the findings of that review in the public domain. Nor does the reply indicate whether any assessment has been carried out on the educational impact of ending fresh scholarships after 2021-22.

The figures contained in the government's own replies underline the scale of that policy change. Between 2012-13 and 2021-22, the Centre awarded more than 6.69 crore scholarships under the three schemes, while MANF supported 6,722 research scholars over eight years. Today, those education schemes remain closed to new applicants, and the Ministry's current priorities, as reflected in its latest parliamentary response, are centred on infrastructure, skills, entrepreneurship and credit-based support.

The Lok Sabha reply does not suggest that educational support for minority communities has ended altogether. Existing scholarship recipients and MANF fellows continue to receive benefits until the completion of their approved tenure, while minority students remain eligible for other fellowship programmes operated by different ministries if they satisfy the prescribed criteria. What the reply does not explain is whether the government believes those alternatives adequately replace the minority-specific scholarship schemes that once formed the core of its education policy, or whether it has measured the consequences of withdrawing fresh admissions under those programmes.