The Indian government has disbursed a record Rs 7,981.47 crore to more than 75 lakh Scheduled Caste (SC) beneficiaries in Financial Year 2025–26 (FY26), marking a significant scale-up in welfare outreach for one of the country's most marginalised communities. The funds were channelled through multiple education-focused schemes administered by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE), the government confirmed on Friday, April 25, 2025.

Key Scholarship Schemes See Double-Digit Growth

Year-on-year expenditure data reveals consistent increases across all major scholarship programmes targeting SC students. The Pre Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs and Others recorded the sharpest jump — a 21 per cent rise compared to FY25 — signalling renewed government focus on early-stage educational intervention.

The Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs saw an 11.23 per cent increase, while the Central Sector Scholarship of Top Class Education for SC Students grew by 13.5 per cent. These schemes together form the backbone of India's constitutionally mandated affirmative action framework in education.

The SHRESHTA Scheme — Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas — registered a 16 per cent expenditure increase over FY25, reflecting growing enrolment of SC students in quality residential schooling programmes.

NSKFDC Extends Concessional Finance, Women Dominate Beneficiaries

The National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) disbursed Rs 223.47 crore in concessional loans to 29,448 beneficiaries during FY2025–26. Strikingly, nearly 97 per cent of these beneficiaries were women — a figure that underscores the feminisation of sanitation labour in India and the targeted outreach by the Corporation.

The average loan size climbed to Rs 77,000, a 16.67 per cent increase over the previous year, reflecting both inflation adjustment and expanded credit access. Since its inception in October 1997, NSKFDC has cumulatively disbursed Rs 3,340.67 crore, benefiting over 6.08 lakh individuals including Safai Karamcharis, waste pickers, manual scavengers, and their dependents. The Corporation holds an authorised share capital of Rs 785 crore and paid-up capital of Rs 720 crore.

Broader Mandate of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment operates a wide umbrella of welfare programmes extending beyond SC communities. Its mandate covers Other Backward Classes (OBCs), senior citizens, victims of alcoholism and substance abuse, transgender persons, individuals engaged in begging, Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNTs), and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).

This multi-pronged approach reflects India's constitutional obligation under Articles 15, 16, and 46 to promote educational and economic interests of weaker sections and protect them from social injustice.

Why This Matters: The Larger Picture

India's Scheduled Caste population — estimated at over 20 crore individuals as per Census 2011 — remains disproportionately represented among the country's poor, with limited access to quality education and formal credit. The year-on-year increases in scholarship expenditure are critical, as dropout rates among SC students remain significantly higher than the national average, particularly at the secondary and higher secondary levels.

Notably, this disbursement comes amid the government's broader push under the Panch Pran framework to reduce systemic inequality by 2047. Critics, however, have long argued that actual fund utilisation — not just disbursement — must be scrutinised, as a portion of allocated scholarship funds has historically gone unclaimed due to documentation barriers and digital access gaps in rural areas.

With FY26 still ongoing, the government is expected to release updated utilisation data and expand beneficiary outreach through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) architecture, which aims to eliminate leakages and ensure last-mile delivery to genuine SC students and workers.