Agartala, Oct 23: Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma on Thursday addressed a press conference to dispel misinformation regarding the Post-Matric Scholarship scheme for tribal students in Tripura, following what he termed “inaccurate and misleading” media reports that could create confusion among beneficiaries.
Clarifying the facts, the Minister said that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Government of India, had sanctioned ₹50 crore for the 2023–24 academic and financial year and an additional ₹24.94 crore for both 2023–24 and 2024–25, to be disbursed in the 2024–25 fiscal year.
As of April 2025, 28,163 tribal students—nearly 85% of the total eligible—have already received their scholarships. “Tripura is the first state in the Northeast and second in the country after Goa to complete such a large-scale distribution within one month of the financial year’s close,” Debbarma said.
He added that the remaining 5,152 students would receive their dues once ₹25.63 crore is released by the Centre. The delay, he explained, was caused by technical issues in the new SNA-SPARSH payment system, which all states must now use under Ministry of Finance guidelines. The transition requires new bank accounts, onboarding, and integration with the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).
To resolve this, a state team met officials from MoTA and NIC in New Delhi and secured permission to use the older SNA-PFMS system for one-time disbursement, enabling payments to 85% of students.
Debbarma said he and the Department Secretary have written to the Finance Ministry seeking further relaxation to clear pending dues. “The Ministry of Finance has now approved a one-time provision to release all remaining payments through the previous mode,” he confirmed, adding that funds are expected within 4–5 working days.
