PM-YASASVI Scheme

24th March, 2023 POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Copyright infringement not intended

Context: The PM-YASASVI scheme had only spent slightly more than 2% of its more than 1,500 crore budget as of December 31, 2022, according to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment.

Details

According to government data presented to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was only able to spend 1% of the money allocated for a pre-matric scholarship programme for students of Scheduled Castes and other groups, and less than half of the money allocated for a post-matric scholarship programme for SC students.
The House panel noted that, as of December 31, 2022, just a little over 2% of the more than 1,500 crore allocation had been spent for the PM-YASASVI scheme, which offers pre- and post-matric scholarship benefits to Other Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, and Denotified Tribes.
The committee also noticed that, of the authorised Rs 5,660 crore through December 31, 2022, the government has only been able to spend 2,500.22 crores on the post-matric scholarship for SC students.
- In the same time frame, just 56 lahks of the 500 crores allocated were spent on the pre-matric scholarship programme for SC children and others.
The panel highlighted that the low expenditure in the SC student programmes was a result of delays brought on by a new disbursement system for Centrally-sponsored programmes that demand State payments.
- Even though the Union government fully supports the PM-YASASVI initiative, it likewise saw low use.

PM YASASVI Scheme

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment offer scholarships to meritorious students under the PM YASASVI scheme.
This programme is open to deserving students from classes 9 through 12 who belong to the underprivileged group.
To be eligible for the PM YASASVI programme, a student must fall under one of the following categories: Other Backward Class (OBC), De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic (DNT), or Economically Backward Class (EBC).
- The candidate's guardians' or parents’ income must be less than Rs 2.5 Lakh per year for them to qualify for this scholarship.
The Class 9 and Class 10 students will receive Rs. 75,000 annually under this programme, and the Class 11 and Class 12 students will receive Rs. 1, 25,000 annually.
Students have to apply for the PM YASASVI scheme to get the scholarship. They can submit the application form on the official website.
Students will be chosen for the scholarship based on their performance on the National Testing Agency's YASASVI Entrance Exam. The entrance exam is held in the computer-based test (CBT) mode.