Politics · India · 2 hrs ago
Parliament panel questions governments over gaps in SC scholarship schemes
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee questioned the Union and state governments on October 15 about problems in pre- and post-matric scholarships for Scheduled Caste students.
The questions followed a 2025 audit by India’s Comptroller and Auditor General, which found delays affecting 40.75 lakh beneficiaries across 14 states.
The audit also found that more than 3.5 lakh students received no scholarship, while thousands of payments went to people who may not have been eligible.
It flagged possible fraud, including shared caste certificates and payments to beneficiaries whose Aadhaar and bank details did not match.
The schemes are jointly funded by the Union and state governments, but the Union Social Justice Ministry said states had not provided the information needed for its response to the audit.
Officials from six states missed the hearing, and the committee may seek privilege notices against their chief secretaries.
The ministry has one month to submit a detailed action report on the audit’s findings.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee questioned the Union government and several States over gaps in scholarships for Scheduled Caste students.
The concerns were flagged in a 2025 audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The audit found delayed or missing payments, eligibility-check failures and cases involving non-SC beneficiaries.
Six State Chief Secretaries did not appear at the committee hearing on October 15, 2026.
The Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry was given one month to submit a detailed action-taken report.
- Who
- Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee questioned the Union government and State governments. The committee is chaired by Congress MP K.C. Venugopal.
- What
- The committee examined gaps and suspected fraud markers in pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for Scheduled Caste students.
- When
- The hearing was held on October 15, 2026. The audit findings were in a 2025 report.
- Where
- New Delhi.
- Why
- The committee sought explanations and action on problems identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
Public Accounts Committee
Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry
Responsibility for action
Public Accounts Committee
The committee questioned why action-taken reports on the audit findings had not been submitted.
Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry
The Ministry said implementation rested with State governments and it could not file reports without their information.
Next steps
Public Accounts Committee
The committee gave the Ministry one month to submit a detailed action-taken report on each issue.
Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry
The Ministry assured the committee that the reports would be submitted within a month.
A total of ₹52,878 crore was spent on the two scholarship schemes, including about ₹30,234.5 crore from the Union government.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report flagged problems in the administration of the schemes.
The Public Accounts Committee questioned government officials; the six State Chief Secretaries due to attend did not appear.
The Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry was to submit a detailed action-taken report.
- Audit report
- 2025
- Delayed scholarships
- 40.75 lakh beneficiaries in 14 States faced delays of one to 90 months
- Scholarships not received
- More than 3.5 lakh beneficiaries
- Questionable eligibility checks
- More than 5,700 disbursements lacked proper income-eligibility checks
- Non-SC beneficiaries
- More than 6,000 cases
- Absent Chief Secretaries
- Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh