Skip to main content

‘Reform’ to help Dalits muddled up: Just 0.1% disbursal of pre-matric scholarship funds

By Bharat Dogra* 

The government has been trying to reform the system of disbursement of scholarships to scheduled caste and extremely backward class students. Reform is supposed to lead to improvement. However, in the present context the supposed ‘reform’ has muddled up things badly with the result that the the availability of funds for scholarships has been disrupted to an extent that has perhaps never happened before, despite there being a long previous record of tardy disbursements.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has recently drawn attention to this disruption in its report on Demand for Grants of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment. This report was tabled in Parliament on March 23. This report has provided government data on actual disbursement of funds for various scholarships for scheduled castes and some other weaker sections for the first 9 months of the financial year 2022-23 ie up to 31 December 2022.
The data presented here regarding the disbursal of funds for pre-matric scholarships for scheduled castes tells us that only Rs 56 lakh were spent while the allocation in the budget was for Rs 500 crore. This amounts to only 0.1 per cent disbursal of pre-matric scholarship funds in the first 9 months of the 12 months period.
In the case of the post matric scholarship for scheduled castes only Rs 2,500 crore were disbursed despite the allocation of Rs 5,660 crore during the first 9 months. Only 44% funds were disbursed in first 9 months. This came on top of the spending of only Rs 1,978 crore in the previous year 2021-22 compared to the allocation of Rs 3,415 crore.
One reason for this has been a recent change that the central funds (which comprise about 60% of the funds) will be released after the state share of 40% has been released. However this is not proper as due to problems of their fiscal health, delay on the part of some states cannot be ruled out. In such a situation when the union government makes its funds conditional to prior release by the state government, then this can result in complete disruption of funds.
In fact only recently a study by the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) and the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) had cautioned against such a conditional system.
While this is likely to be an important factor behind the disruption of pre-matric scholarship, there are obviously other factors also. In the case of scholarships for students of Other Backward Classes, Extreme Backward Classes and Notified Tribes (scheme called PM Yasaswi) the funding is only from the Centre and yet in this case too there has been a disruption of funds, with the disbursal of funds up to December 31, 2022 being around Rs 42 crore compared to the budget allocation of Rs 1,581 crore. In other words only 3 per cent of the funds were disbursed in the first 9 months.
Earlier allocations for SC students and for households involved in hazardous occupations were made separately, but these have been merged now.
Several problems relating to these scholarships for students from weaker sections have been pending for quite some time. The income limit has been set too low and has not been revised for a long time, making it difficult for genuinely needy and deserving students to avail scholarships.
The CBGA-NCDHR study (by Jawed Alam Khan and Rahat Tasneem) had also drawn attention to several problems relating to disbursal of these scholarships for students from weaker sections. This report titled ‘Assessing Public Finance Management Issues in the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme’ stated:
“The primary challenges before the scheme include a poor design in terms of its complex fund-sharing and fund-flow mechanism between the center and the states, the absence of a regular revision in the scheme’s guidelines, inefficient adherence to the prescribed guidelines, inadequate beneficiary targets and coverage as well as funds for the same, accumulation of arrears, low fund utilization in many states, poor planning and lack of proper monitoring system.”
This study also said that the government has not given adequate attention to reports and suggestions of Parliamentary Standing Committee and CAG Audit. The overall budget for these scholarships, this study said, needs to increase.
The government should hasten to introduce genuine improvements, as several reports have spoken about the distress and disruption suffered by Dalit students when the sanctioned scholarships fail to reach them in time. 
Work of rehabilitation of manual scavengers appears to have been largely abandoned after only partial rehabilitation
There have been reports of students not just interrupting their studies to take up whatever employment is available to earn a subsistence wage but even having to skip meals or to survive on very low nutrition food. Sometimes studies get disrupted in such a way that these cannot be continued again.
One way for reducing extreme distress and disruption for them is to make arrangements for postponing their payment of hostel expenses, fees etc. till such time that their delayed scholarship funds reach them.
However, what is more basic is that delays and disruptions in the disbursement of scholarships are altogether avoided. There is wide agreement that dalits who have suffered from historical injustice in Indian society should get many-sided help for advancement and improved educational opportunities are a very important part of this many-sided effort. Pre-matric and post-matric scholarships play an important role of ensuring and facilitating continuity in education beyond lower levels.
Some other aspects of the budget for dalit welfare also deserve attention. A new initiative called Development Action Plan for Scheduled Castes (DAPSC) was provided an allocation of Rs 950 crore in 2022-23 (Revised Estimate) to provide one-time financial assistance for socio-economic empowerment of Scheduled Castes through infrastructure development and income-generation schemes, but this fund has not been supplemented in the 2023-24 budget ( Budget Estimates).
In the 2023-24 budget there is no separate allocation also for the Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) and this appears to be have been merged with the new scheme NAMASTE. However NAMASTE is more about an action plan for mechanization of sewage work and its allotted budget of Rs 97 crore for 2023-24 may not be adequate even for this limited purpose. 
Hence, the work of rehabilitation of manual scavengers appears to have been largely abandoned after only partial rehabilitation (based mainly on a small one-time cash payment) covering only a limited number of workers (about 58,000), while the need is clearly for reaching out to a larger number of workers with proper, many-sided rehabilitation measures. Hence clearly there is an urgent need for reviving the rehabilitation work on an adequate scale in keeping with real needs.
---
*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include 'Protecting Earth for Children' and ‘Man over Machine'

Comments

TRENDING

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar*  “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative  In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative   People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.