The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has unveiled comprehensive revised guidelines for the 'Top Class Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Caste Students' for the academic year 2024-25, significantly expanding financial support while introducing stricter accountability measures for educational institutions.
Enhanced Financial Support for Students
Under the revamped financial structure, the scheme will provide substantially increased academic allowances to beneficiaries. First-year students will receive an academic allowance of Rs 86,000, while those in subsequent years will get Rs 41,000 annually to cover living expenses, books, stationery, and laptops.
The government will directly transfer full tuition fees and non-refundable charges to students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), with annual expenditure capped at Rs 2 lakh per student for private institutions. This ensures complete fee coverage without financial burden on students from marginalized communities.
Eligibility Criteria and Allocation Details
The scholarship is available to SC students with annual family income not exceeding Rs 8 lakh who secure admission in premier notified institutions including:
- IITs, IIMs, and NITs
- AIIMS and other medical institutes
- National Law Universities
- NIFT, NID, and IHMs
- Other accredited colleges
For the 2024-25 academic year, the ministry has allocated 4,400 fresh scholarship slots out of the overall scheme limit of 21,500 slots for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26. Importantly, 30% of these slots are reserved for eligible SC girl students, with provisions allowing institutions to fill unused female candidate slots with male students if adequate applications from girls are not received.
Institutional Accountability and Monitoring
The revised guidelines place significant responsibility on participating institutions. They are mandated to verify caste and income certificates, prominently feature scheme details in their prospectuses, and closely monitor academic performance of scholarship recipients.
Institutions must also provide academic support for weaker students through bridge courses or mentoring programs. The ministry has introduced provisions for social audits and strengthened monitoring by a steering committee to ensure scheme effectiveness.
Institutions failing to apply for three consecutive years or lacking mandatory AISHE codes or KYC compliance on the National Scholarship Portal risk being de-notified. However, existing beneficiaries at such institutions will continue receiving funding until course completion.
Important Restrictions and Conditions
Several key restrictions apply to maintain scheme integrity. Beneficiaries cannot avail similar scholarships from other Central or State schemes simultaneously. The scholarship benefits are limited to maximum two siblings from the same family.
Only first-year students are eligible for fresh awards, with renewals continuing till course completion subject to satisfactory academic performance. Any student changing institutions after selection will lose scholarship eligibility.
The enhanced Top Class Scholarship Scheme represents a significant step toward promoting quality higher education among Scheduled Caste students across India's premier educational institutions, removing financial barriers while ensuring institutional accountability.
