The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs. 59,000 crore Post Matric Scholarship for more than four crore Scheduled Caste (SC) in the next five years.

The cabinet approved a total investment of Rs. 59,048 crore. The central government will spend 60% of the programme which is estimated at Rs. 35,534.

Meanwhile, the rest wll be provided by the state government. “This replaces the existing ‘committed liability’ system and brings greater involvement of the Central Govt in this crucial scheme,” the Union Cabinet said in a statement.

The Post Matric Scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste students allows students to pursue any post matric course starting from class 11 and onwards, with the government providing the cost of education.

“The focus of the scheme would be on enrolling the poorest students, timely payments, comprehensive accountability, continuous monitoring and total transparency,” the cabinet mentioned in the statement.

The scheme will be run on an online platform with robust cyber security measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays, the statement mentioned.

The states will verify the eligibility, caste status, Aadhar identification and bank account details of the applicants on the online portal.

Transfer of financial assistance to the students under the scheme shall be on DBT mode, and preferably using the Aadhar enabled payment system, the statement said.