Social Justice: Budget 2021 has allocated just INR 3,416 crore for scholarships for Dalit students—less than half the amount earmarked by the Cabinet in December 2020.
The scheme provides scholarships to about 60 lakh Dalit students every year. The scholarship covers the actual tuition fee and a maintenance fee ranging between INR 230 and INR 1,200 per student per month. However, lakhs of Dalit students have not received money after filling up the scholarship form, due to a paucity of funds at the state level.
Last year, the Cabinet had approved an amount of INR 35,534 crore to be spent over a period of five years. This means that the government should have allocated INR 7,106 crore for this year. However, the actual allocation for 2021-22 is less than 50 percent.
In addition to this, the government has also reduced allocations to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities by 12 percent—from INR 1,325 crore last year to INR 1,172 crore this year; and to the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment by nearly 50 percent—from INR 20 crore to INR 10.5 crore.