New Delhi, April 24: The Indian government has announced the disbursement of ₹7,981.47 crores to over 7.5 million Scheduled Caste (SC) beneficiaries. This information was revealed by the government on Friday.
An official statement indicated that the funds are part of various schemes managed by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, aimed at the educational empowerment of marginalized students from Scheduled Castes.
There has been an annual increase in the expenditure of major scholarship programs. This includes a 21% rise in the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC and others, an 11.23% increase in the Post-Graduate Scholarship Scheme for SC students, and a 13.5% hike in the Central Sector Scholarship for higher education for SC students.
Additionally, the expenditure for the residential education scheme (Shrestha) for students in targeted areas for SC has seen a 16% increase compared to the financial year 2025.
Moreover, the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) has distributed ₹223.47 crores in concessional finance to 29,448 beneficiaries in the financial year 2025-26, with nearly 97% of the funds allocated to women.
The average loan amount has risen to ₹77,000, marking a 16.67% increase from the previous year. With an authorized share capital of ₹785 crores and a paid-up capital of ₹720 crores, the corporation has disbursed a total of ₹3,340.67 crores in loans, benefiting over 608,000 individuals.
NSKFDC has been operational since October 1997, focusing on the socio-economic upliftment of sanitation workers, waste pickers, manual scavengers, and their dependents through concessional finance and support interventions.
The statement emphasized that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment oversees the implementation of various acts and welfare schemes aimed at uplifting Other Backward Classes (OBC), senior citizens, individuals affected by substance abuse, transgender persons, beggars, denotified and nomadic tribes (DNT), and economically weaker sections (EWS).
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