Guwahati: Nearly a month after Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma assured that scholarships would be credited “within a day or two,” more than 13,000 students in the state remain unpaid, according to education officials.
On March 22, the Chief Minister announced via a post on X that the central government had disbursed the final installment of Rs 85.07 crore under the Post Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students for the academic year 2023–24, released through the Umbrella Scheme.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Despite the announcement, the funds have not reached a significant number of beneficiaries. Officials from the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education attributed the delay to a lack of Aadhaar-bank account linkage, now a mandatory requirement under new disbursal guidelines.
Students have been anticipating the release of their scholarships since last year, with promised timelines shifting from January to February, and eventually to March.
As of now, authorities have managed to transfer the scholarship amount to 13,608 students. However, payments for the remaining 13,719 students have stalled due to Aadhaar-related discrepancies in the National Scholarship Portal. In most cases, either the Aadhaar is not linked to the bank account or remains inactive, rendering the automated payment system ineffective.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The Education Department has acknowledged the complications and is actively working to fix technical issues tied to Aadhaar authentication and data mismatches. Officials assured that efforts are ongoing to ensure all eligible students receive their dues at the earliest possible time.
This is the first year that Aadhaar linkage has been made compulsory for scholarship disbursal, and the system’s implementation has exposed several gaps that the department is now scrambling to address.