Kharge slams Modi govt over declining scholarships for SC, ST, minorities

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused the Modi government of drastically cutting scholarships meant for students from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and minority communities, alleging that funds allocated for these groups had been “usurped.”

“Narendra Modi ji, your government has snatched the scholarships of the youth belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and minority categories,” Kharge wrote in a post on X.

Sharing data sourced from budget documents and responses in the Rajya Sabha, he highlighted a significant reduction in scholarship allocations. According to the figures, pre-matric scholarships for SC students had dropped by 57% in the last nine years, while OBC pre-matric scholarships had seen a staggering 77% cut over the past five years. Scholarships for minority students had suffered the steepest decline, plunging by 94% in just four years.

The post-matric scholarship schemes also witnessed major reductions. Scholarships for ST students fell by 21% in the last decade, while those for SC students saw a 13% decline over nine years. Funding for OBC, Economically Backward Classes (EBC), and Denotified Tribes saw a 58% reduction in the same period, while minorities experienced an 83% dip in just four years.

“These shameful government statistics show that the Modi government has not only drastically reduced the number of beneficiaries across all scholarships but has also cut spending by an average of 25% every year,” Kharge asserted.

He further criticized the BJP-led government, stating that its slogan of *‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’* was nothing more than a hollow promise that mocked the aspirations of marginalized communities.