Parliament Question: Delays in disbursal of national fellowship to ST Ph.D scholars

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- # 3821 TO BE ANSWERED ON- 25/03/2026 DELAYS IN DISBURSAL OF NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP TO ST PH.D. SCHOLARS 3821 # DR. FAUZIA KHAN: Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Ministry is aware that ST Ph.D scholars across the country have faced month-long delays in receiving funds under the National Fellowship for Higher Education of Scheduled Tribe Students (NFST), with the January-June, 2025 dues still pending as of September, 2025; (b) if so, the reasons for repeated disruptions in fellowship disbursement and measures taken to resolve funding bottlenecks and speed up payments to affected beneficiaries; (c) whether the Ministry has set up a digital grievance redressal mechanism for tracking status and resolving complaints related to the NFST scheme; and (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY) (a) & (b): 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.(c) & (d): 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 Forward Received During Disposed During Average Disposal Days Scholarship 3 825 828 2 Schemes *****