Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Around 3.5 lakh school students in Madhya Pradesh have been waiting for their scholarships for nearly two years, with errors in their bank account details emerging as a major hurdle in the disbursement of funds.
The affected students include around 2.66 lakh students studying in government schools and nearly 77,000 students admitted to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The issue has particularly affected students belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories from the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic sessions.
According to officials, scholarship amounts could not be credited because the bank account information of several students was found to be incorrect or incomplete.
Department asks officials to update bank details
The School Education Department has now directed all divisional joint directors and district education officers to ensure that the bank account details of the affected students are updated.
However, the process has remained a challenge as many parents have to visit banks to get the accounts corrected or updated.
Teachers in several schools said parents are repeatedly being asked to update their children's bank accounts.
In many cases, parents live outside the district and cannot easily visit the bank during working hours. As a result, despite attempts to rectify the details, the scholarship amount remains pending.
Scholarship benefits across classes and categories
Under the SC scholarship scheme, girls studying in Classes 1 to 5 are provided Rs 250 annually.
For Classes 6 to 8, SC and ST students receive scholarships ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 600 per year. In Classes 9 and 10, SC students are eligible for Rs 600 to Rs 1,200 annually.
For Classes 11 and 12, SC, ST and OBC students who are natives of MP are eligible for monthly assistance. Day scholars receive Rs 230 per month, while students staying in hostels are provided Rs 380 per month.
Under the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Meritorious Student Incentive Scheme, Rs 5,000 is provided annually to economically weaker students from the general category who secure the highest marks in Class 12 in their district while studying in a government school.
The benefit is available to students whose annual parental income is up to Rs 1 lakh.
District-wise pending scholarships
District
Students affected
Indore
22,859
Rewa
13,910
Dhar
13,198
Jabalpur
12,658
Sagar
9,967
Bhopal
9,884
Chhatarpur
9,582
Gwalior
9,288
Rajgarh
9,096
Morena
8,942
