Tamil Nadu recorded increases in two distinct scholarship schemes between 2023-24 and 2025-26: Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Castes and Pre-Matric Scholarship for SCs and Others. The Social Justice Ministry supplied the figures to the Rajya Sabha on July 29, 2026.
Post-matric SC beneficiaries rose from 643,761 to 966,840. Pre-matric beneficiaries under the SCs-and-Others scheme increased from 335,642 to 582,684. By contrast, post-matric support for OBC, EBC and DNT students fell from 4.76 lakh to 3.67 lakh.
The ministry also reported fewer beneficiaries under its senior-citizen programme and the Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme in 2025-26 than in 2023-24. These contrasting movements make a single claim of expanding coverage misleading.
The pre-matric scheme combines an income-tested SC component with support for children of people in specified hazardous occupations. The department's rules make that second component available irrespective of caste or religion, with no family-income ceiling. Its combined beneficiary count therefore covers a broader eligibility category than SC students alone.
The table measures recorded participation. It does not, by itself, establish why a count changed, whether payments arrived on time or whether students stayed in education. Those questions require application, payment and education-outcome data.
