Half the states fail to use pre-matric scholarship scheme for tribals

New Delhi: Half the states, including tribal-dominated Schedule V area states, have not tapped into the Centre’s pre-matric scholarship scheme for tribal students depriving the deserving candidates of a monthly monetary benefit.

Over half of the funds earmarked for pre-matric scholarships under the Centre’s scheme for tribal children is lying unspent. Out of Rs 400 crore for the scholarship, only Rs 163.96 cr have been disbursed to 16 states and union territories.

The maximum demand has been from five tribal-dominated Schedule V area states Madhya Pradesh, followed by Odisha, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. However, the remaining five have not tapped into the scheme. These are Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.

The centrally sponsored scheme is implemented through states and states often do not close the portal in time and start the verification process. The disbursals get delayed under the scheme, which benefitted over 10.27 lakh tribals in 2019-20.

A spokesperson of the tribal affairs ministry told ET, “The biggest problem in tribal children getting the scholarship is that the states do not send the demand after due verification on time.” Sample this, in 2019-20, Bihar cleared their scholarship backlog dating back to 2014-15, which means an eligible meritorious tribal child got his scholarship five years late. Even in the current fiscal, Dadra and Nagar Haveli has been released funds for scholarship for eligible students for 2017-18 financial year.

The tribal affairs ministry data also reveals that 78% of the pre-matric scholarships disbursed are not Aadhar seeded as the states are not on a uniform system. Sources said the poor utilisation so far could also be attributed to Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of schools.