Agartala, October 27: Amid mounting protests by the Tipra Indigenous Students Federation (TISF) demanding swift disbursal of pre-matric and post-matric scholarship funds for tribal students, Brijesh Pandey, Secretary of the Tribal Welfare Department in Tripura, confirmed on Sunday that approximately 86% of eligible tribal students have already received their scholarships.
He assured that an additional 4% of students would receive funds within the next few days, while the remaining cases—comprising about 2510 applications—are under scrutiny due to suspicions of fake documentation.
Addressing a press conference alongside Tribal Welfare Department Director Subasish Das, Pandey explained that the scholarships, including both ST pre-matric and ST post-matric, are intended for tribal students from families with an annual income below Rs 2,50,000. Applications for these scholarships are submitted through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP), with AADHAR linkage now mandatory to prevent fraudulent claims.
Pandey attributed the delays in disbursal to the introduction of mandatory AADHAR linkage last year, necessitating multiple deadline extensions. Originally set for November 21, 2023, the final application deadline for the fiscal year 2023-24 was extended six times, eventually concluding on April 15, 2024.
He said that out of the total 35,665 applicants, 30,602 students—equivalent to 86%—have received their scholarships, amounting to Rs 56.40 crore. The initial batch of scholarships, disbursed in June, reached 21,272 students, representing 55.8% of applicants, with a total outlay of Rs 13.37 crore. The remaining funds for eligible students were cleared by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on September 6, processed by the state finance department, and distributed to eligible students beginning on September 20.
However, challenges remain in processing payments for the remaining 4,966 students (14% of total applicants).
According to Pandey, nearly 1,000 students are yet to link their bank accounts with AADHAR, rendering their payments incomplete.
He noted that 1,468 of these students recently completed the linkage, and their payments are expected by this week. Once the remaining 988 students link their bank accounts with AADHAR, their scholarship payments will follow suit.
The remaining 2,510 cases, comprising primarily students studying outside Tripura and 298 within the state, are under investigation due to potential discrepancies in income or student certificates.
Pandey disclosed that the state government has already verified 211 of these applications and is awaiting the verification of the others. Students found eligible post-verification will receive their scholarships, totaling an additional Rs 2.22 crore.
He claimed that the Tribal Welfare Department underscored its commitment to ensuring timely scholarships for genuine applicants, while also reiterating its zero-tolerance stance toward fraudulent claims. As protests persist, officials are actively working to complete the remaining disbursals while verifying questionable applications.
