SFI- UK Criticises Centre for Curtailing National Overseas Scholarship

London: The Students’ Federation of India – United Kingdom (SFI-UK) has sharply criticised the Indian government for underfunding of the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS), which has resulted in the exclusion of 66 students from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and other marginalised communities.

In a statement released on Wednesday, SFI- UK described the funding cut as a regressive move that reinforces caste- based disparities in access to higher education. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has reportedly issued provisional awards to only 40 of the 106 students selected for the 2025–26 academic year.

The Ministry cited the absence of clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the reason for withholding full disbursal of funds. As a result, many students with confirmed admissions to top-tier foreign universities now face the prospect of deferring or abandoning their academic plans.

“The denial of scholarships to students from historically oppressed backgrounds undermines the very purpose of the scheme and entrenches educational privilege among the economically dominant,” SFI said in it's statement.

Established to support students from SC/ST backgrounds, landless labourers, and traditional artisan families with annual household incomes under 8 lakh rupees, the NOS was conceived as a tool for social mobility and inclusion in global academic spaces.

SFI- UK characterised the underfunding as a “deliberate state manoeuvre” to divert resources away from social justice initiatives, while simultaneously sanctioning extravagant government expenditure elsewhere. The organisation also condemned the wider trend of privatisation and shrinking public support for higher education, warning that it restricts access for marginalised students and consolidates privilege within elite castes and classes.

“The government’s actions reflect an aversion to critical, rational academic inquiry and a reluctance to empower marginalised communities,” the statement said.

SFI- UK called upon the broader student and academic community to resist what it described as the erosion of educational rights and to organise in defence of equitable access to international higher education.