Lok Sabha Question No. 3650 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-11
Subject: Scholarship to Girl Students for Graduation Course
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Sunil Kumar

## 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. No. | Ministry/ Department                     | Website links                                                                         |
|-----------|------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment | https://socialjustice.gov.in/scheme-cat                                               |
|         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=823 |

|   Sl. No. | Ministry/ Department                      | Website links                                                                   |
|-----------|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         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 Education | https://www.aicte- india.org/bureaus/rifd/Scholarship-Schemes                   |
|         7 | Department of Science and Technology      | https://dst.gov.in/inspire-scheme-innovation- 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, collateralfree  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 25 th February 2025. During 25 th February 2025 to 7 th 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.

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