The slots under the National Overseas Scholarships (NOS) scheme for Scheduled Castes (SC) students will double from 125 to 250 in 2026-27, while those for Scheduled Tribes (ST) students will increase from 20 to 50, the Union Ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment and Tribal Affairs have informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
However, the 31-member Social Justice and Empowerment Committee, headed by BJP MP P C Mohan, raised concerns over the funding and utilization of the amount allocated for the NOS program in its demand for grants report for the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) and Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA).
Under the NOS scheme, meritorious SC and ST students get government scholarships to pursue higher education in top 1000 ranked universities abroad.
MoTA spent $21.95 crore on 68 ST students under NOS scheme between 2021-22 and 2024-25. The chart is customized $20 lakh crore for the fiscal year (FY) 2026-27.
However, the committee expressed its dissatisfaction with this only $8,757.04 crore from the revised estimate of $Rs 10,824.18 crore had been utilized for 2025-26 by February 23, 2026 – nearly 19% less than the tourism ministry’s allocation. The committee also noted that the ministry had been allocated $15,421.97 crore for 2026-27 against the proposed demand of $17,223.47 crores — about 10.5% less than required.
According to the committee report submitted on Wednesday, the annual maintenance allowance for ST students will increase from $15,400 to $19,250 in the next Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) session for 2026-27 to 2030-31.
The Tourism Ministry also informed the committee that it would consider raising the family income ceiling for ST students $6 lakh for $8 lakh, bringing it in line with the eligibility criteria for SC students.
However, the committee noted funding concerns in the NOS scheme for SC students. The budget estimates for the NOS scheme for SC students in 2026-27 are $125 crores, down from $130 crore in 2025-26, although it is proposed to double the number of slots. “The committee is unable to understand how the ministry will provide scholarships for 250 places within the budget allocated for 125 places,” the report said. Currently, SC students receive $15,400 per year in maintenance allowance for studies in the US and other countries, and £9,900 in the UK.
The committee also noted the issues with the Post Graduation Scholarship Scheme (PMS) for SC students, which is implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Ministry of Justice and Education through states and union territories.
The number of beneficiaries decreased to 36.07 lakh in 2025-26 against the target of 76.55 lakh – an achievement of less than 50%. The scheme covered 47.38 thousand students in the period 2023-2024 and 48.04 thousand students in the period 2024-2025.
The Ministry proposed raising the family income ceiling from $2.5 lakh for $4.5 lakh in the next Finance Commission session starting in 2026-27. It also proposed doubling the number of openings from 3,500 to 7,000 and increasing the monthly salary from 3,500 to 7,000. $4000 LBP $8000.
