The Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Durgadas Uikey, addressed the Rajya Sabha regarding the "National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students" scheme, detailing the causes and resolutions for delays in fellowship disbursals for Ph.D. scholars.
**Financial Overview and Budgetary Adjustments**
The original budgetary outlay for the scheme was set at ₹735 crore for the five-year period from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26. However, the Ministry exhausted this entire amount by FY 2024-25. The accelerated expenditure was driven by an increase in the number of scholars under the open-ended National Scholarship (Top Class) and an enhancement of fellowship amounts by the UGC.
To resolve the resulting fund paucity in FY 2025-26, the Ministry secured an additional allocation of ₹220 crore through a Supplementary EFC, increasing the total five-year budgetary outlay to ₹955.00 crore.
**Current Disbursement Status**
As of March 25, 2026, the Ministry confirmed that all fellowship dues for Ph.D. scholars have been cleared. Remaining instances of non-disbursal are attributed to administrative factors, such as the non-submission of continuation certificates or other required documentation by the scholars.
**Grievance Redressal Performance**
Scholarship-related complaints are managed via the CPGRAMS/PG Portal. For the reporting period of April 1, 2025, to March 23, 2026, the Ministry reported the following metrics for scholarship grievances:
* **Cases Brought Forward:** 3
* **Cases Received:** 825
* **Cases Disposed:** 828
* **Average Disposal Time:** 2 days
**Release Identification**
* **Release ID:** 2244951
* **Post Date:** March 25, 2026, 2:24 PM
* **Location:** PIB Delhi
Key Entities Referenced
National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students: The central scheme providing financial assistance to Scheduled Tribe students for higher studies, encompassing both scholarships and fellowships.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs: The primary ministry responsible for the implementation, funding allocation, and oversight of the ST higher education schemes.
NFST (National Fellowship for ST Students): The specific fellowship component for Ph.D. scholars that experienced disbursement delays due to budgetary exhaustion.
CPGRAMS: The centralized grievance redressal portal used by the ministry to track and resolve complaints related to scholarship schemes.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Delays in disbursal of national fellowship to ST
Ph.D. scholars
Posted On: 25 MAR 2026 2:24PM by PIB Delhi
The Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey today informed Rajya Sabha that
under the scheme of “National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students” the total
budgetary outlay for FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26 was ₹735 crore. However, Ministry of Tribal Affairs
incurred the expenditure of ₹735 crore till F.Y. 2024-25. Notably, the Ministry has spent five-year budget
within four years due to increase in number of scholars under National Scholarship (Top Class) being the
open-ended scheme and enhancement of fellowship amount by UGC under National Fellowship. Due to
this paucity of funds under the scheme, NFST awardees (Ph.D scholars) faced delay in disbursement of
fellowship during current Financial Year 2025-26.
To address the shortfall in funds, the Ministry sought additional allocation of ₹220 crore by moving
Supplementary EFC, thereby increasing the total budget outlay to ₹955.00 crore for the five-year period.
The fellowship payment to Ph.D scholars has been disbursed and all dues have been cleared. In some
cases, non-disbursement of fellowships is also due to non-submission of continuation certificates and
other documents.
Complaints/grievances relating to the scholarship schemes are resolved through CPGRAMS/PG Portal.
The average disposal time of CPGRAMS related to scholarship schemes is given in the table below: -
CPGRAMS/PG Portal Report for all scholarship Grievances (including NFST scheme)
Period of Report: 01/04/2025 to 23/03/2026
Name Brought Received Disposed During Average Disposal Days
Forward During
Scholarship 3 825 828 2
Schemes
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