The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has undertaken several reforms and digital initiatives to improve accessibility and streamline scholarship processes for students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). As part of a key reform measure, applicants do not need to provide a Domicile Certificate to apply for scholarship schemes. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said that the decision is aimed at reducing the compliance burden on students and simplifying the application process, enabling easier access to scholarship benefits.

According to the Ministry, nearly 1.2 crore students receive benefits annually under the Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship Schemes for SCs and OBCs. Until now, submission of a domicile certificate was a mandatory requirement under these schemes. The Ministry said that the removal of this requirement is expected to make the application process more student-friendly by reducing documentation, lowering compliance costs, and facilitating smoother access to scholarship benefits for eligible students.

To strengthen digital governance, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has also launched Scholarship for Educational Transformation and Upliftment (SETU) on the UMANG platform as a comprehensive solution for scholarship-related services. The platform provides a single interface for eligible applicants, Institutional Nodal Officers, District Nodal Officers and State officials for application registration, tracking, and validation of other services, thereby improving transparency and efficiency.