Post-matric scholarships: in 2021-22 the Centre released 20.7% of what States asked for; 4,804,208 SC students were paid in 2024-25

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What this shows

How many Scheduled Caste students the Post-Matric Scholarship paid in each State from 2020-21 to 2024-25, how much central money States asked for and received from 2019-20 to 2021-22, and what the Centre budgeted and spent from 2023-24 to 2025-26.

What it does not show: How many students applied and are still waiting to be paid: the Ministry was asked in Parliament and gave no such figure.

Sources

Rajya Sabha; answer by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 1256, “Underfunding of Post-Matric Scholarships”, Annexure, dated 27 Jul 2022. Primary source.
Lok Sabha; answer by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 260, “Post-Matric and Top Class Education Scholarships Scheme for SC Students”, Annexure, dated 22 Jul 2025. Primary source.
Lok Sabha; answer by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2788, “Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme”, Annexure, dated 10 Mar 2026. Primary source.
Lok Sabha; answer by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 5091, “Payment Pending and Technical Glitches for Post-Matric Scholarship” (cited in the caveats), dated 24 Mar 2026. Primary source.
Lok Sabha; answer by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 3852, “Post-Matric Scholarship Funds for Scheduled Castes”, Annexure, dated 11 Aug 2026. Primary source.

Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 10 Oct 2026.

Read these with the numbers

A “beneficiary” is a student paid in that year. A student paid in several years is counted in each, so the five-year figure is payments to students, not different students.
The answer says the scheme “was on-boarded on National Scholarship Portal from the year 2021-22”. In 2021-22, Assam, Bihar, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura and Uttarakhand show no students paid; the answer does not say whether none were paid or none were reported.
Telangana shows no students paid in 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, and no central assistance released in 2023-24 and 2024-25; ₹213.79 crore (about US$25 million) was released in 2025-26. For 2024-25, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2788, 10 March 2026, says: “No State/UT share paid data has been received from the State of Telangana & UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (DNH&DD) on the central portal.”
For 2019-20, the answer notes: “The Scheme was based on the concept of committed liability prior to 2020-21 wherein, 100% Central Assistance was released to States/UTs over & above the Committed Liability of the States/UTs. No funds were released to States/UTs either whose demand was within their Committed Liability or who did not furnish the proposals.” For 2020-21: “The Scheme was revised during 2020-21 wherein fixed sharing pattern of 60:40 (90:10 in case of NE States) between Centre and States has been adopted. Central Assistance was released to States/UTs who submitted the proposals for 2020-21.”
The Rajya Sabha answer does not say whether a State’s demand is for the central share only or for its whole scholarship bill.
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 5091, 24 March 2026, was asked for the number of applications and the payments pending for 2025-26. The answer gives students paid and money released, and two “Payment Failed” cases, not the number of applications or of students still waiting.
The budget and spending figures are the Centre’s; the States’ own share of the scholarship is not in any of these answers.

Key terms

Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste students (PMS-SC): A scholarship for Scheduled Caste students studying after Class 10, paid by the States with central assistance under a scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Beneficiary: A student paid the scholarship in the year.
Central assistance: The Centre’s share of the scholarship. Since 2020-21 it is a fixed 60% (90% in the North-Eastern States), the States paying the rest.
Demand: What a State or UT asked the Centre for in its Annual Action Plan.
Revised estimate (RE): The budget figure as revised during the year.
National Scholarship Portal (NSP): The Centre’s online portal through which scholarship applications and payments are handled.
DBT: Direct Benefit Transfer: payment straight into the student’s bank account linked to Aadhaar, India’s 12-digit identity number.
Scheduled Castes: The official list of Dalit communities under India’s Constitution.

Changelog and corrections

Version 1: First version: students paid by State, 2020-21 to 2024-25, with demand, releases, budget and spending, from 5 answers to Parliament.

How corrections work. Every change is listed here.

Cite this

The Dalit Project, “Post-matric scholarships: in 2021-22 the Centre released 20.7% of what States asked for; 4,804,208 SC students were paid in 2024-25”, version 1, data.dalitproject.org/scholarships/, as on 10 Oct 2026.