PANAJI
The Centre has sought inputs from the Goa government on its proposal to introduce a unified National Scholarship Portal under the “One Nation, One Scholarship Portal” initiative, aimed at streamlining scholarship applications, verification and disbursement through a single digital platform.
As such, the State government, in turn, has sought comments from the Director of Education, Directorate of Higher Education, Directorate of Technical Education, Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Tribal Welfare Department and Directorate of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
The exercise is part of preparations for the forthcoming two-day Departmental Summit of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, where scholarship reforms have been identified as a key theme for discussion. The summit is also expected to be attended by the Prime Minister, with the dates to be communicated separately.
According to the concept note circulated to States and UTs, the proposed unified portal seeks to create a common digital platform for scholarship applications, verification, approvals, renewals and payments, while retaining the specific requirements of individual schemes.
The proposal envisages a common beneficiary registry with Aadhaar-based deduplication to prevent duplication and enable tracking of beneficiaries through different stages of their educational journey. It also proposes integration with digital government platforms and databases, including DigiLocker, APAAR, the National Academic Depository, UIDAI, NPCI and the Direct Benefit Transfer Bharat Portal.
A key feature under consideration is the use of artificial intelligence to identify potentially eligible students by securely integrating government databases, enabling authorities to reach beneficiaries proactively instead of depending entirely on applications submitted by students. AI-powered multilingual chatbots and grievance redressal systems are also proposed to improve access to information and assistance.
The Centre has further proposed that its share of scholarships under Centrally Sponsored schemes for Other Backward Classes be transferred directly to eligible applicants’ Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts through DBT, beginning this year.
The Centre has asked States to provide feedback on data-sharing constraints, privacy safeguards for AI-based beneficiary identification, preparedness for migration to the unified platform, infrastructure and manpower requirements, and the support needed from the Centre.
States have also been asked to suggest measures to strengthen awareness and last-mile delivery, reduce the application burden and ensure eligible students do not miss scholarship opportunities.
