Certain changes have been made in the NOS scheme guidelines 2021 guided by the need for simplifying the procedures and to make the process more transparent. Also, since there was greater demand for study in science and technology fields and in order to better utilise the resources, scholarships were prioritized for those subjects in greater demand. It was felt that the fields of study where India has strength or where the field work is to be done in India can be left out of the list.
Accordingly, topics/courses concerning Indian Culture, Heritage, History & Social studies on India where substantial portion of the field work is in India, are not being considered for award of scholarships from 2022-23 onwards, whereas other subjects under Humanities/Social Sciences which need international exposure such as Law, Economics, Psychology etc are still available for funding. This change has provided more opportunities for the poor SC students to study in global best universities.
The number of students selected for the National Overseas Scholarship for the past five years is given at Annexure.
The rationale for imposing an income limit of Rs 8 lakh per annum as an eligibility criteria is ordained in the objective of the NOS scheme which is to facilitate the low income students belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, Landless Agricultural Labourers and Traditional Artisans category to obtain higher education from the best universities in the world and thereby help in improving their economic and social status.
Annexure
- Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
(The number of students selected for the National Overseas Scholarship for SC Students for the past five years)
| Sr. No. | YEAR | Stipulated No. of slots | No. of candidates selected |
| 1 | 2017-18 | 100 | 183* |
| 2 | 2018-19 | 100 | 100 |
| 3 | 2019-20 | 100 | 100 |
| 4 | 2020-21 | 100 | 100 |
| 5 | 2021-22 | 125 | 125 |
* vacant slots of previous years were carried over
B. Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities ( DEPwD)
(The number of students selected for the National Overseas Scholarship for Students with disabilities for the past five years)
| Year | No. of beneficiaries |
| 2017-18 | 2 |
| 2018-19 | 5 |
| 2019-20 | 6 |
| 2020-21 | 7 |
| 2021-22 | 9 |
This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri A. Narayanaswamy in the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today.