The Scheduled Caste (SC) students who were beneficiaries of the scholarship in the year 2025-26 might have only been 36.07 lakh which is less than half of their target set. Apart from increasing the seats and monthly stipends of students from 4,000 to 8,000 the government has also decided to double the number of seats available under the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) scheme for Scheduled Caste students from 125 to 250 in the year 2026-27. Moreover, the seats for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) students have also been raised from 20 to 50. This information was conveyed to the Parliamentary standing committee by the ministries of social justice and empowerment and tribal affairs, a joint communication revealed.
On the other hand, the 31-member Social Justice and Empowerment Standing Committee, established by the Lok Sabha and headed by P.C. Mohan, a BJP member, in its report on the demands for grant of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) and Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), has pointed the finger at the lack of funds for the NOS scheme and how the allocated money was spent.
Through the NOS scheme, students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) who are best in studies are given government grants for pursuing higher education in foreign universities ranked in the top 1,000.
Between 202122 and 202425, MoTA spent 21.95 crore on 68 ST students under the NOS scheme. The scheme has been allocated 20 crore for Financial Year (FY) 202627.
The committee however was not happy that the ministry had only used 8,757.04 crore of the revised estimate of 10,824.18 crore for the year 202526 as of February 23, 2026 this amount being almost 19% less than the allocation for MoTA. The committee also observed that the ministry has been allocated 15,421.97 crore for 202627 against the proposed demand of 17,223.47 crore, a difference of about 10.5% less than the sought amount.
According to the committee report tabled on Wednesday, the annual maintenance allowance for ST students will increase from $15,400 to $19,250 in the upcoming Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) cycle for 2026–27 to 2030–31.
The MoTA also informed the panel that it will consider raising the family income ceiling for ST students from ₹6 lakh to ₹8 lakh, bringing it in line with the eligibility criteria for SC students.
However, the committee flagged funding concerns in the NOS scheme for SC students. The budget estimate for the NOS scheme for SC students in 2026–27 is ₹125 crore, down from ₹130 crore in 2025–26, despite the proposal to double the number of slots. According to a report, the department will provide scholarships for 250 slots while the budget was only for 125 slots. At present, SC students are given up to $15,400 per year as a maintenance allowance while doing their studies in the US and other countries, and 9,900 in the United Kingdom.
The panel also mentioned the problems of the Post-Matric Scholarship (PMS) for SC students which is a Department of Social Justice and Empowerment scheme through states and Union Territories implemented under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The number of students who received financial help was reduced to 36.07 lakh in 2025-26 against a target of 76.55 lakh - less than 50% achievement. The scheme helped 47.38 lakh students in 2023-24 and 48.04 lakh in 2024-25.
This ministry has suggested increasing the maximum family income limit from 2.5 lakh to 4.5 lakh for the next Finance Commission cycle starting in 2026-27. Besides that, the ministry has also proposed to double the number of slots from 3,500 to 7,000 and to increase the monthly stipend from 4,000 to 8,000.
