The Government has implemented the PM CARES for Children Scheme across the country to support children who lost both parents, surviving parent, legal guardian or adoptive parents due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A special scholarship scheme called “Scholarship for PM CARES Children” was formulated as a Central Sector scheme by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment. Under this scheme, a scholarship allowance of  ₹ 20,000/- per child per annum is provided. This amount comprises a monthly stipend of ₹ 1,000/- per month plus an annual academic allowance of ₹ 8,000/- towards school fees, books, uniforms, shoes, and other educational expenses. The benefit is available for the eligible school-going children from Class 1 to Class 12. The scholarship amount is disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into the beneficiary’s bank account (linked with Aadhaar). The Scheme has been implemented uniformly across all States and Union Territories, including Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Since inception, i.e., FY 2022-23, the number of beneficiaries to whom scholarship has been disbursed, year wise by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, is provided as below:

Financial Year	No. of Beneficiaries to whom scholarship has been transferred
2022-23	3847
2023-24	3676
2024-25	3383
2025-26	2855

As per the guidelines of this scholarship scheme under PM CARES,  scholarship is provided only for the beneficiaries who are studying in Class 1st to Class 12th by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.

This information was provided by UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT, SHRI RAMDAS ATHAWALE, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

****
 

KV/HK

(रिलीज़ आईडी: 2204724) आगंतुक पटल : 210