Parliament Question: Impact of Schemes for Minority Students

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2812 ANSWERED ON 05.08.2026 IMPACT OF SCHEMES FOR MINORITY STUDENTS 2812. SHRI IMRAN MASOOD: Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state: - (a) whether the Government has evaluated the impact of scholarship, education loan and skill development schemes for minority students; (b) if so, details of the students benefited under these schemes during the last three years, State and community-wise; and (c) whether the process of selection of beneficiaries and the mode of payment have been made completely digital and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU) (a to c): Ministry of Minority Affairs implements following schemes/programmes for socio- economic empowerment of the six (6) centrally notified minority communities namely Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs in India: I. SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES The Ministry of Minority Affairs implemented the scholarship scheme with 03 components i.e. Pre-Matric, Post-Matric and Merit-cum-Means until 2021-22 wherein an amount of Rs. 20610 crore was released to 8.12 crore eligible minority beneficiaries since inception of the scheme. However, no evaluation of the impact of the scholarship schemes has been undertaken so far. The scholarship schemes have not been in operation beyond FY 2021– 22. Consequently, no fresh beneficiaries have been covered under these schemes during the last three years. However, during the operation of the scheme selection of beneficiaries was carried out through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). Scholarship payments were released through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism using the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS), ensuring transparency, efficiency and timely disbursement of scholarship amounts. II. EDUCATION LOAN AND FELLOWSHIP The Ministry of Minority Affairs has designated the National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC), a non-profit company incorporated under Section 25 of theCompanies Act, 1956 as the implementing agency for the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) Scheme. As per the data available on the Scholarship and Fellowship Management Portal (SFMP), the State-wise number of beneficiaries under the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) Scheme during the last three financial years is enclosed at Annexure-I. Community-wise details of beneficiaries under MANF scheme for the last three financial years is enclosed at Annexure-II. Further, the number of students benefitted under Educational Loan scheme of NMDFC during the last three years, State and community-wise is enclosed at Annexure-III. The Ministry of Minority Affairs discontinued the MANF Scheme with effect from the financial year 2022–23. However, existing MANF Fellows continue to receive fellowship benefits until the completion of their fellowship tenure, subject to the extant guidelines of the Scheme. Under the Education Loan Scheme of NMDFC, applications are received via online MILAN Portal and selection of beneficiaries is carried out by the Selection Committee constituted at the level of the respective State Channelising Agencies (SCAs). Upon completion of the required documentation by the student beneficiary, the loan amount is generally released directly to the bank account of the concerned college/institution. NMDFC regularly undertakes independent third-party impact assessment studies to evaluate the effectiveness of its concessional credit schemes, including the Education Loan Scheme. The latest impact assessment study was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi during 2025–26. III. SKILL DEVELOPMENT SCHEME The Government has conducted impact and evaluation studies of Seekho Aur Kamao (SAK), USTTAD, Nai Manzil, and Nai Roshni schemes of this Ministry. The studies found positive outcomes in skill enhancement, employability, income generation, educational attainment, leadership development, and socio-economic empowerment of minority beneficiaries. The above schemes along with Hamari Dharohar scheme were combined to launch Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) scheme was launched in 2025. Under the PM VIKAS scheme a total of 59 PIAs have been allotted a target of 1.56 lakhs beneficiaries across 31 States/UTs. So far, 32,138 candidates have been trained under the scheme. The Ministry has progressively digitized beneficiary selection, monitoring and fund- transfer processes using online portals/MIS systems for beneficiary and programme management. Beneficiary selection, fund flow and monitoring have largely moved to digital platforms, while continuous improvements are being recommended to achieve complete end- to-end digitization and real-time tracking. *****Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN POINT (A TO C) OF REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2812 FOR ANSWER ON 05.08.2026 REGARDING “IMPACT OF SCHEMES FOR MINORITY STUDENTS” ASKED BY SHRI IMRAN MASOOD. The State-wise no. of beneficiaries under the MANF Scheme during the last three financial years: S.No. State/ Year 2023-2024 2024-2025 2025-2026 1 ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS - - - 2 ANDHRA PRADESH 10 7 3 3 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 5 3 2 4 ASSAM 37 26 23 5 BIHAR 69 44 20 6 CHANDIGARH 2 1 1 7 CHHATISGARH 0 0 0 8 DELHI 91 86 60 9 GOA 1 1 1 10 GUJARAT 13 12 10 11 HARYANA 24 14 12 12 HIMACHAL PRADESH 10 8 8 13 JAMMU AND KASHMIR 374 267 176 14 JHARKHAND 22 13 9 15 KARNATAKA 20 16 13 16 KERALA 163 116 86 17 LADAKH 3 2 2 18 LAKSHADWEEP 0 1 0 19 MADHYA PRADESH 18 14 11 20 MAHARASHTRA 52 34 22 21 MANIPUR 15 10 7 22 MEGHALAYA 9 7 4 23 MIZORAM 4 1 0 24 NAGALAND 8 4 4 25 ODISHA 8 3 2 26 PUDUCHERRY 2 2 1 27 PUNJAB 108 85 57 28 RAJASTHAN 22 9 5 29 SIKKIM 4 2 2 30 TAMIL NADU 15 6 4 31 TELANGANA 22 17 12 32 TRIPURA 2 2 2 33 UTTAR PRADESH 300 235 145 34 UTTARAKHAND 14 11 9 35 WEST BENGAL 178 127 111 Grand Total 1625 1186 824 * The number of beneficiaries in each year includes fellows availing fellowship during the successive years of their Ph.D. programme.Annexure-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN POINT (A TO C) OF REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2812 FOR ANSWER ON 05.08.2026 REGARDING “IMPACT OF SCHEMES FOR MINORITY STUDENTS” ASKED BY SHRI IMRAN MASOOD. The community-wise details under MANF Scheme of beneficiaries for the last three financial years: Community/ Year 2023-2024 2024-2025 2025-2026 BUDDHIST 33 27 28 CHRISTIAN 93 87 65 Community not mentioned 610 192 85 JAIN 21 21 18 MUSLIM 781 766 562 PARSI 1 1 1 SIKH 86 92 65 Grand Total 1625 1186 824 * The number of beneficiaries in each year includes fellows availing fellowship during the successive years of their Ph.D. programme.Annexure-III ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN POINT (A TO C) OF REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2812 FOR ANSWER ON 05.08.2026 REGARDING “IMPACT OF SCHEMES FOR MINORITY STUDENTS” ASKED BY SHRI IMRAN MASOOD. State-wise and Community-wise details of beneficiaries financed under the NMDFC Education Loan schemes during last three Financial Years. States Muslims Christians Sikhs Jains Buddhists Parsis Total HIMACHAL PRADESH 7 0 4 0 0 0 11 JAMMU & KASHMIR 204 0 3 0 0 0 207 KERALA 399 425 0 0 0 0 824 MAHARASHTRA 131 3 0 29 0 0 163 PUNJAB 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 RAJASTHAN 30 0 2 3 0 0 35 TAMIL NADU 14 15 0 0 0 0 29 WEST BENGAL 1453 4 1 1 0 0 1459 Grand Total 2238 447 12 33 0 0 2730