Minister for Tribal Affairs, Javed Ahmed Rana, has reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to ensure timely disbursement of scholarships to all Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, in full compliance with the established guidelines of Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Reiterating that the disbursement of Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarships to ST-2 students falls clearly within the mandate of the Tribal Affairs Department (TAD), the Minister stated that there can be no delay by any authority within the Department, except for the essential verification and de-duplication process mandated under central government guidelines.

In this regard, the Minister issued explicit directions to both the Secretary and the Director, Tribal Affairs, J&K, to ensure the immediate disbursement of all pending scholarships to eligible ST students, including ST-2 beneficiaries who had applied through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).

De-duplication exercise was undertaken to ensure that ST-2 students who were earlier receiving scholarships through the Social Welfare Department are now included only under the Tribal Affairs Department, as per Government of India directives.

The Directorate has since completed the de-duplication process in consultation with the Social Welfare Department, and received the necessary clarifications.

Consequently, the entire process for disbursement of pending scholarships has been completed and eligible ST-2 students are now entitled to scholarship under the Tribal Affairs Department.

The eligible ST students who are yet to receive their scholarship have been asked to contact the Director, Tribal Affairs, J&K for prompt redressal and resolution of their case.