Pioneer News Service
Ranchi
Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking enhanced central financial assistance for scholarship schemes, saying the current allocation is insufficient to meet the educational needs of lakhs of students in the state. He also urged the Centre to increase scholarship amounts for students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minority communities, besides reviving the discontinued minority scholarship scheme.
In his letter, Soren said Jharkhand, being a socially and economically sensitive state, requires greater central support for scholarship programmes. He argued that the funds released by the Centre are far below the state’s actual requirements, adversely affecting the education of a large number of students.
Highlighting the funding gap, the Chief Minister said the state had sought Rs 66.14 crore under the pre-matric scholarship scheme for the 2024-25 financial year but received only Rs 12.61 crore from the Centre. For 2025-26, Jharkhand demanded Rs 45.91 crore, against which only Rs 3.95 crore was released.
A similar shortfall was reported under the post-matric scholarship scheme. According to the letter, the state requested Rs 353.21 crore for 2024-25 but received only Rs 33.57 crore. For 2025-26, the Centre approved Rs 58.22 crore against the state’s demand of Rs 370.87 crore.
Soren further stated that the Centre’s overall national allocation for Jharkhand stood at Rs 23.78 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 32.70 crore in 2025-26, which he described as inadequate considering the state’s educational requirements. He also pointed out that no fresh central allocation was released for SC and ST pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes during the 2025-26 financial year.
The Chief Minister clarified that the Rs 200 crore released under the post-matric scholarship scheme in 2024-25 was not meant for that year’s requirements. Instead, it constituted pending dues for 2022-23 along with the first instalment for 2023-24, leaving the present financial needs largely unaddressed.
Expressing concern over the minority scholarship programme, Soren noted that minorities account for nearly 23.29 per cent of Jharkhand’s population. However, no central funds have been released under the minority scholarship scheme since the 2021-22 financial year. He said the discontinuation of the scheme has adversely affected students from economically weaker minority families and appealed to the Prime Minister to restore it at the earliest.
The Chief Minister also sought parity in scholarship amounts across different social categories. He pointed out that under the current pre-matric scholarship structure, ST students receive Rs 3,000 annually, SC students Rs 3,500 and OBC students Rs 4,000. He requested the Centre to revise the scholarship amount for ST students to remove the existing disparity.
Soren urged the Prime Minister to substantially increase the Centre’s contribution towards scholarship schemes, release pending funds without delay and revive the minority scholarship programme to ensure that financial constraints do not disrupt the education of deserving students from weaker sections of society.
