10,000 scholarship slots, zero paid out: what Parliament was told this week
By TUF News Desk · Published 17 October 2026 · 4 min read
Fact-checked against 2+ independent sources · Editorial policy
In the last academic year, 54,111 postgraduate students cleared every verification check for the UGC’s National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies. All of them were found eligible. Not one fresh scholarship was sent for payment.
The numbers came from the Ministry of Education itself. Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar placed the data on the table in Parliament during the monsoon session, in response to a question from Congress MP Bhajan Lal Jatav. Careers360 reported the figures today, and the picture goes well beyond one scheme.
The UGC’s flagship PG scholarship
The National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies pays Rs 15,000 a month for 10 months to PG students, with 10,000 slots a year. The UGC launched it in 2023-24 by folding four older scholarships into one: the single-girl-child scholarship, the rank-holders scholarship, the SC/ST professional-courses scholarship and the GATE/GPAT scholarship.
In its first year it disbursed 8,171 scholarships; in the second, 4,945, less than half the slots. In 2025-26, fresh disbursal fell to zero while verified applications crossed 54,000. On the renewal side, 5,300 of 6,671 verified applications were sent for payment.
Ishan Uday and the wider pattern
Ishan Uday, the scholarship for undergraduates from the eight Northeast states with annual family income below Rs 4.5 lakh, pays Rs 8,000 a month for 10 months across 10,000 slots. In 2025-26 it had 26,632 verified applications and zero fresh disbursals. In earlier years, it regularly paid out more than 9,000 scholarships a year.
It is not an isolated case. The flagship PM-USP scheme has 82,000 slots a year and has never filled them in five years, even though verified applications ran above the allotted slots. The PM YASASVI scheme for OBC, EBC and denotified-tribe students paid 6,787 fresh scholarships in 2025-26, down from 10,191 the year before. And the tribal affairs ministry’s National Scholarship and Fellowship for ST students saw no disbursal at all, fresh or renewal, in 2025-26.
What activists say is going wrong
Beena Pallical of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights told Careers360 that money routinely reaches students one or two years late, even as fund allocations increase, because authorities sit on budgets till December or January. Her demands: keep an offline application option alongside the online portal, run more awareness drives about these schemes, and simplify the document-verification step that many students find daunting.
The government, for its part, told the Rajya Sabha that about 1.09 crore post-matric and higher-education scholarships were provided in 2025-26, with amounts reaching Aadhaar-seeded accounts through direct benefit transfer. That aggregate figure does not explain why specific schemes are showing zero or falling disbursals.
What students should do this cycle
Applications for 2026-27 for the NSPG and Ishan Uday schemes are now being accepted through the National Scholarship Portal, and the UGC has asked institutions to verify applications within 15 days of receipt so applicants get time to fix errors. Register with a One-Time Registration (OTR) number, complete the Aadhaar face authentication, and keep an Aadhaar-seeded bank account ready. The UGC website carries the official scheme guidelines.
Our scholarships guide for Indian university students lists what you can apply for this year, and our admission documents checklist covers the paperwork most online portals ask for. Apply early: a late or defective application is the easiest reason to be left out.
Frequently asked questions
How many higher-education scholarship slots went vacant in 2025-26?
As per data the education ministry placed in Parliament, zero fresh scholarships were disbursed from the 10,000-slot UGC National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies and the 10,000-slot Ishan Uday scheme, despite 54,111 and 26,632 verified applications respectively. The tribal affairs ministry’s ST scholarship also paid nothing that year.
Why are the scholarships not being disbursed?
Activists point to delayed fund release, with money sometimes reaching students a year or two late, plus an online-only application process and a document-verification process many students find daunting.
Where do I apply for the 2026-27 scholarship cycle?
Through the National Scholarship Portal at scholarships.gov.in, using a One-Time Registration (OTR) number. The UGC has asked institutions to verify applications within 15 days of receiving them.
Frequently asked questions
How many higher-education scholarship slots went vacant in 2025-26?
As per data the education ministry placed in Parliament, zero fresh scholarships were disbursed from the 10,000-slot UGC National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies and the 10,000-slot Ishan Uday scheme, despite 54,111 and 26,632 verified applications respectively. The tribal affairs ministry's ST scholarship also paid nothing that year.
Why are the scholarships not being disbursed?
Activists point to delayed fund release, with money sometimes reaching students a year or two late, plus an online-only application process and a document-verification process many students find daunting.
Where do I apply for the 2026-27 scholarship cycle?
Through the National Scholarship Portal at scholarships.gov.in, using a One-Time Registration (OTR) number. The UGC has asked institutions to verify applications within 15 days of receiving them.
Sources: Careers360, The Times of India, Business Standard