National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students carries a monthly grant of Rs 31,000

3 November 2026

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has set out how its National Fellowship for Scheduled Caste Students works, through the story of a doctoral scholar it funded. The fellowship pays Rs 31,000 a month along with a contingency grant, so that a research student can complete doctoral work without carrying a heavy financial load. The ministry's account follows a scholar from Sambalpur district in Odisha whose fellowship began in December 2019 and who now teaches sociology as an Assistant Professor at a model degree college in the Nuapada area of the state, on a basic pay of Rs 63,000. The release presents the scheme as a route from financial assistance to academic work and then to regular employment in higher education. The fellowship is one of the ministry's main instruments for taking Scheduled Caste students into research and university teaching.