Amid shrinking higher education support, critics argue that the cuts represent performative gestures rather than substantive empowerment
NEW DELHI — In the narrow lanes of Okhla’s Jamia Nagar in the national capital, 17-year-old Zahra Begum anxiously checks her phone for bank alerts. Her father, a tailor facing erratic work amid economic pressures, depends on the ₹6,000 annual Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship to cover her Class 12 books, coaching for competitive exams, and daily transport. “This money keeps me in school,” Zahra says. “Without it, I might have joined my cousins who dropped out after Class 10. But college fees feel impossible now.”
Zahra’s story is echoed by thousands of meritorious girls from minority communities across India, from Muslim neighbourhoods in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to Christian and Parsi families in Kerala and Maharashtra. As the scheme continues for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years, it stands as one of the few remaining targeted supports. Yet it operates in a climate of significant retrenchment. Many students, academics, and community leaders describe remaining programmes as “just a show” — modest, visible incentives at the school level that mask the dismantling of critical higher-education pipelines.
The Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship was launched in 2003 during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government as the Maulana Azad National Scholarship for Meritorious Girls. It was later renamed to honour Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Awadh queen who played a leading role in the 1857 revolt against British rule, a powerful symbol of courage and leadership. Administered by the Maulana Azad Education Foundation under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the scheme targets girls from the six notified minority communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis. Its primary goal is to prevent financial barriers from causing dropouts among deserving secondary school students.
Students in Classes 9 and 10 receive ₹5,000 per annum while those in Classes 11 and 12 receive ₹6,000 annually. These amounts are disbursed directly via Direct Benefit Transfer into Aadhaar-linked, KYC-compliant bank accounts. Funds can be used for tuition fees, books, stationery, uniforms, transport, and limited hostel expenses. The amounts have remained unchanged for years, despite rising education costs. To qualify, a girl student must belong to one of the six notified minority communities, have secured at least 50 per cent marks or equivalent in the previous examination, and come from a family with an annual income from all sources not exceeding ₹2 lakh. A valid income certificate from a competent authority is required, and students cannot avail another central scholarship simultaneously, though limited family exceptions apply.
Applications are accepted exclusively through the National Scholarship Portal at scholarships.gov.in. The process is fully online, free of charge, and transparent. The government strongly advises against agents charging fees. Selection follows a merit-cum-means approach with state-wise and community-wise quotas based on 2011 Census minority population data. For 2026-27, application windows typically open in alignment with the academic sessions.
Beneficiaries and education experts acknowledge modest successes. The scheme helps delay early marriages, improves retention rates, and supports families in investing in girls’ education. Many recipients have progressed to higher studies and careers in teaching, medicine, engineering, and public service. Field reports from states with large minority populations indicate thousands of annual beneficiaries, contributing to incremental gains in female literacy and secondary enrolment. However, shortcomings are evident. The static amounts fail to match inflation and rising costs. In urban areas, annual expenses for a Class 11-12 student, including coaching, digital devices, and transport, often exceed ₹15,000–25,000. Rural and madrasa-enrolled girls frequently miss out due to digital access issues, documentation hurdles, or a lack of awareness. Verification delays add further frustration.
A Class 12 student from Hyderabad shared that the scholarship helps with books and some coaching but covers only a fraction of actual needs as expenses have skyrocketed.
The Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship persists against a backdrop of systematic contraction in minority education support under the BJP-led government since 2014, with sharper cuts post-2019. Critics contend this reflects a shift from targeted affirmative action, recommended by the 2006 Sachar Committee, toward “mainstreaming” that inadequately addresses persistent disparities. The most prominent example is the discontinuation of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship for new applicants from the 2022-23 academic year. Launched in 2009 to support minority students pursuing MPhil and PhD programmes, MANF provided five-year integrated financial assistance, including a monthly stipend, contingency grants, and research support. The government justified the move by citing overlaps with general UGC fellowships open to all communities. Existing fellows were assured continuation, but delays in disbursements have persisted into 2026.
Muslims, India’s largest minority community at approximately 14 per cent of the population, with documented educational lags, were disproportionately affected. Pre-closure, MANF supported over 6,700 fellows between 2014-15 and 2021-22, with total disbursements around ₹739 crore. Muslims often comprised 60-70 per cent of beneficiaries. Post-discontinuation, All India Survey on Higher Education data showed Muslim higher education enrolment declining from about 2.1 million with a 5.45 per cent share in 2019-20 to 1.92 million with a 4.64 per cent share in 2020-21, representing an over 8.5 per cent drop amid pandemic effects. Subsequent years indicate stagnation or relative decline, while other groups saw gains. Recent reports highlight ongoing challenges, with delayed or reduced MANF payments as allocations were cut further.
Community leaders and researchers estimate thousands of potential scholars were deterred, leading to reduced minority representation in academia, policy-making, and innovation. For Muslim students, this exacerbates cycles of marginalisation through higher dropout rates, lower Gross Enrolment Ratios, and limited access to premier institutions. The financial and human capital loss runs into hundreds of crores, with long-term implications for social mobility and national development. A research scholar at Aligarh Muslim University, speaking anonymously, said MANF offered dignity and focus. Now students compete in a general pool where barriers hit harder, and school-level scholarships feel like tokenism when higher doors are closing.
Budget trends support these concerns. The Ministry of Minority Affairs received a nominal ₹3,400 crore allocation in 2026-27, but key schemes faced drastic reductions or near-zero funding. The Merit-cum-Means Scholarship was slashed to ₹0.06 crore, while pre- and post-matric scholarships were heavily revised downward, with chronic under-spending often below 40 per cent utilisation. MANF funding was reduced further, primarily for legacy payments. Activists describe this as budgetary strangulation, a political choice rather than mere administrative efficiency.
Officials defend the approach as rationalisation to eliminate duplication and promote integration. Minority students, they argue, can access mainstream UGC fellowships, EWS quotas, and skill development programmes under PMJVK and Seekho aur Kamao. Direct Benefit Transfer has reduced leakages, and broader investments in school infrastructure and women’s empowerment such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao benefit all communities. Supporters claim this fosters national unity over communal targeting. However, critics counter that general schemes often fail to address specific socio-economic and cultural barriers faced by minorities, particularly Muslims. Persistent gaps in literacy, completion rates, and employability underscore the need for targeted interventions. Chronic underspending raises doubts about implementation commitment.
The Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship provides tangible short-term relief and hope for families like Zahra’s. It carries a powerful message that financial hardship should not derail academic dreams. Yet its modest scale and isolation from higher-education support limit transformative potential. Many girls complete secondary schooling only to confront insurmountable barriers at the college and research levels. Education experts recommend urgent reforms, including inflation-indexed scholarship amounts, expanded coverage for vocational and madrasa streams, improved outreach, simplified processes, and revival of targeted fellowships with robust anti-leakage measures. As India pursues Viksit Bharat 2047, harnessing human capital from all sections, including the 19 per cent minority population, is essential. Neglecting these groups carries demographic, economic, and social costs.
For aspiring students and families, the advice is to apply promptly on the official portal when the windows open, double-check documents and bank details, and maintain strong academic performance. Community organisations and schools should enhance awareness drives. The Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship embodies both promise and paradox. It sustains immediate educational ambitions for thousands of minority girls. However, in the shadow of discontinued fellowships like MANF, slashed budgets, and stagnant enrolment trends, especially among Muslims, many question whether current policies offer genuine ladders for mobility or merely optics to deflect criticism. The ongoing debate highlights fundamental choices in India’s democracy: balancing efficiency and universalism with the targeted equity needed to address historical disparities. For Zahra and lakhs like her, the answer will determine not only individual futures but the inclusiveness of India’s progress.
