Parliament Question: Scholarship to Girl Students for Graduation Course

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3650 ANSWERED ON 11/08/2025 SCHOLARSHIP TO GIRL STUDENTS FOR GRADUATION COURSE †3650. SHRI SUNIL KUMAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government provides scholarship under the National Scholarship Scheme to the girls who enrolled for graduation after passing Intermediate examination;

(b) if so, whether the girl students of Government Degree College Bagaha, Bihar and other colleges are not receiving this scholarship; and

(c) if so, whether the Government proposes to include the said colleges to ensure the welfare of poor children? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a) to (c): The Government is implementing different scholarship schemes for providing financial assistance in higher education to all categories of students including girl students enrolled in graduation courses after passing the Intermediate examination, subject to extant scheme guidelines. The details of these schemes including the criteria laid down for scholarship are

available in the following websites:

Sl. Ministry/ Department Website links No.

1. Ministry of Social Justice & https://socialjustice.gov.in/scheme-cat Empowerment

2. Ministry of Tribal Affairs https://tribal.nic.in/ScholarshiP.aspx

3. Ministry of Minority Affairs https://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/show_conte nt.php?lang=1&level=2&ls_id=661&lid=823Sl. Ministry/ Department Website links No.

4. Department of Higher Education https://www.education.gov.in/en/scholarships- education-loan-0

5. University Grants Commission https://www.ugc.gov.in/Home/student_Corner

6. All India Council for Technical https://www.aicte- Education india.org/bureaus/rifd/Scholarship-Schemes

7. Department of Science and https://dst.gov.in/inspire-scheme-innovation- Technology science-pursuit-inspired-research The Department of Higher Education (DHE) is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Protsahan (PM-USP) Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students (CSSS), under which 82000 Fresh Scholarship slots are available each year.

50% scholarship slots are earmarked for the girl students.

Every Higher Education Institution (HEI) needs to register its Institute Nodal Officer (INO) and the Head of Institution (HOI) on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) through electronic KYC (eKYC) and biometric authentication, which is necessary to validate students’ applications of the college. However, as per information received from the NSP, this has not been done by Government Degree College, Bagaha, West Champaran, Bihar (AISHE Code: C-65394). As a result, the institute is not active on the NSP.

The number of girl student beneficiaries of the PM-USP CSSS from the higher educational institutions of West Champaran district of Bihar over the last Five Academic Years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 is 3,596. The number of girl student beneficiaries of the PM-USP CSSS from the higher educational institutions of Bihar over the last Five Academic Years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 is 60,756.

Further, the PM Vidyalaxmi, a new central sector scheme has been launched on 6th November 2024. The main objective of the scheme is to ensure that no student is denied the opportunity to pursue higher education due to financial constraints. Under the scheme, collateral- free and guarantor-free education loan is provided to all the students who get merit-based admission in top Quality Higher Education Institutions (QHEIs) and who desire to avail the education loan and there is no upper limit for this. Further, for students with annual family income up to ₹ 8 lakh, the scheme provides 3% interest subvention on education loans up to ₹ 10 lakhs.

Up to one lakh fresh students not getting any other scholarship or interest subvention on education loan will get this interest subvention. A dedicated online platform, the PM Vidyalaxmi portal

https://pmvidyalaxmi.co.in has been developed on which students can apply for the education loan as well as interest subvention, through a simplified application process to be used by all banks.This portal has started operating from 25th February 2025. During 25th February 2025 to 7th August 2025, 48 students who reported their domicile as West Champaran district, have applied for the PM Vidyalaxmi education loans. So far, 20 of those education loans have been sanctioned. Amount sanctioned is ₹ 2.1 crore, which is for the full duration of the course.

*****