New Delhi, March 11 A parliamentary panel has strongly recommended the timely disbursement of post-matric scholarships to students and expects the guidelines to be revised as soon as possible.
In its report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, headed by P C Mohan, said, "The Committee feels that the scholarship for an academic year should be disbursed in the same academic year so that a student is able to use the scholarship effectively."
"The Committee has repeatedly recommended that appropriate measures be taken in this regard, however, the practice remains the same. The Committee is happy to be informed that the guidelines are under revision and the scholarship will be disbursed in the first four to five months of the academic year."
The Committee also noted that a "substantial amount of budget sanctioned for 2024-25 was surrendered by the department" and recommended to ensure that funds allocated for educational schemes "should not remain unutilised."
Regarding the Free Coaching Scheme for SCs and OBCs, the panel observed that there is an annual family income limit of Rs 8 lakh for beneficiaries, while there is no income eligibility criterion for beneficiaries of the PM-CARES Fund.
It recommended enhancing the family income ceiling under the scheme so that the target is achieved.
The Committee further noted that out of 47,537 villages identified to be declared as Adarsh Gram, only 13,947 villages have been declared so far by various state governments since 2023-24. It recommended to "resolve the issues hindering the scheme so that the villages identified are declared as 'Adarsh Gram' in a year or two and the requisite facilities are made available in the villages."
The panel recommended examining the creation of a separate department for the welfare of senior citizens under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to ensure greater focus on policy matters as the population of senior citizens is expected to increase to 14.9 per cent by 2036.
On disability welfare, the committee observed that "the currently available estimate of persons with disabilities in the country is based on the 2011 census and the PWD Act, 1995" and recommended "comprehensive enumeration of all 21 categories of disabilities as per the RPWD Act, 2016 in the forthcoming Census."
It also called for a structured mechanism for a streamlined process for the timely release and utilization of funds under schemes such as ADIP, SIPDA, DDRS and scholarship schemes.
For tribal welfare, the panel noted that 377 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) are functioning from their own buildings out of the 723 sanctioned since 2018-19 and recommended that the ministry "ensure that each EMRS is completed within the stipulated period for construction."
The committee further recommended putting in place a mechanism so that the pending work of in-line ministries under PM-JANMAN is executed within the extended period i.e. on March 31, 2027.
It also suggested increasing the annual family income ceiling under the National Overseas Scheme for ST students so that the benefit of the scheme genuinely reaches the tribal people in the country.
On minority welfare, the panel observed that students were unable to avail pre- and post-matric scholarship schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs since 2022-23 due to irregularities reported in some states.
It recommended exploring the possibility of implementing the scheme in those states "where no or very less irregularity has been reported" and conducting a study to assess the reasons for non-implementation and its impact on minorities.
The Committee also said that though PM-VIKAS came into existence in 2023-24, the scheme could not be implemented during 2023-24 and 2024-25 as the guidelines were not approved, and expressed hope that the projects will be completed by March 31, 2027.