This document summarizes the Indian Ministry of Minority Affairs' response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 484, answered on July 23, 2025, regarding the nondisbursal of scholarships to Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) scholars. The Ministry acknowledges that MANF scholars experienced delays in receiving scholarship disbursements. The delay in payments from January 2025 onward was attributed to pending approval for the release of committed liabilities under the MANF scheme, which was discontinued from 2022-23 due to overlap with other fellowship schemes. The Ministry states that necessary approval has been obtained, and funds have been released to the nodal agency for disbursement to onboarded MANF fellows, ensuring that existing fellows continue to receive fellowships until the end of their respective tenures, as per scheme guidelines and DBT Mission guidelines.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Minority Affairs: The Indian government ministry responsible for minority affairs.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India.
Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF): A fellowship scheme mentioned in the policy text, which has been discontinued from 2022-23 onwards.
Ministry of Finance: The ministry responsible for financial matters of the Government of India. Approval from this ministry was pending for the release of funds.
Shri Kiren Rijiju: The Minister of Minority Affairs.
DBT Mission: A mission related to Direct Benefit Transfer, mentioned in the context of scheme guidelines.
Dr. Mohammad Jawed: Member of Parliament who raised a question about the disbursal of scholarships.
Shri Mohibbullah: Member of Parliament who raised a question about the disbursal of scholarships.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 484
ANSWERED ON 23/07/2025
NON-DISBURSAL OF SCHOLARSHIPS TO MANF SCHOLARS
484. DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:
SHRI MOHIBBULLAH:
SHRI S VENKATESAN:
Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that hundreds of scholars under the Maulana Azad National
Fellowship (MANF) have not received their scholarship disbursements for the past several
months;
(b) if so, the present status of the disbursal of the said scholarship along with the reasons for the
delay in the release of fellowship funds despite the fact that the scholars are fulfilling all
academic and procedural requirements;
(c) whether the delay is linked to any pending approval from the Ministry of Finance or other
authorities, if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure immediate release of
pending scholarships and prevent such delays in the future?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS
(SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)
(a) to (d) : Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) scheme has been discontinued from
2022-23 onward in view of the overlap among the other fellowship schemes. However, the
existing MANF fellows will continue to receive the fellowships till the end of their respective
tenure. Committed liabilities under MANF were not paid from January onwards pending
approval.
Recently, necessary approval has been obtained on the release of funds to those students
who have been on-boarded under the MANF in terms of the scheme guidelines/ DBT Mission
guidelines. Following this, Ministry has released funds to nodal agency for disbursement of
fellowship.
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