Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the Centre’s financial contribution towards scholarship schemes for Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Castes (SC), Backward Classes (BC) and minority students, saying inadequate funding is affecting the education of lakhs of deserving beneficiaries in the state.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Soren said the state has been receiving significantly less financial assistance than required, resulting in delays in scholarship disbursal to eligible students.
The Chief Minister said the Jharkhand government has introduced a scholarship system based on the annual income of students’ parents or guardians instead of caste or community, with the aim of ensuring equal opportunities and social justice. However, he noted that the state’s limited financial resources, challenging geographical conditions and large economically weaker population have made it difficult to meet the growing demand without adequate central support.
Citing official figures, Soren said Jharkhand sought Rs 66.14 crore under the pre-matric scholarship scheme for Backward Class students in 2024-25 but received only Rs 12.61 crore. For 2025-26, the state requested Rs 45.91 crore, while the Centre sanctioned only Rs 3.95 crore.
He also highlighted a similar funding gap in the post-matric scholarship scheme. Against the state’s demand of Rs 353.21 crore for 2024-25, the Centre released Rs 33.57 crore. For the current financial year, Jharkhand sought Rs 370.87 crore but has received only Rs 58.22 crore so far.
According to Soren, the shortage of funds has prevented many eligible students from receiving scholarships on time.
The Chief Minister also expressed concern over the lack of financial support for scholarship schemes meant for Scheduled Tribe students. He said no central funds have been released for either pre-matric or post-matric scholarships for ST students during the 2025-26 financial year. He added that the Rs 200 crore released in 2024-25 mainly covered pending dues and partial contributions from previous years.
Soren further pointed out disparities in scholarship amounts, stating that ST students receive Rs 3,000 under the pre-matric scholarship scheme, while SC students receive Rs 3,500 and Backward Class students receive Rs 4,000. He urged the Centre to remove this difference and ensure equal financial assistance.
Highlighting minority welfare, the Chief Minister said minorities make up 23.29 per cent of Jharkhand’s population, yet no central assistance has been provided under minority scholarship schemes since 2021-22. He requested the Centre to revive the scheme and resume funding.
In his letter, Soren also called on the Prime Minister to frame a special policy for economically weaker and developing states and enhance the Centre’s share in post-matric scholarships and other student welfare programmes to ensure uninterrupted educational support for deserving students.
With inputs from IANS