New Delhi: For the last three years, Bihar has not received a single application for the post-matric scholarship, a scheme sponsored by the central government for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, Indian Express reported. The scheme benefits an estimated 60 lakh students across the country.“Technical issues with the National Scholarship portal” is the reason why the government hasn’t received any application, officials told the newspaper, however, they were unable to explain why the issue has not been sorted out in three years.In comparison, Uttar Pradesh has done exceedingly well in providing benefits of this scheme to SC/ST students, the report added.At least five lakh students are eligible for this scholarship every year, where SCs make 16% of the population and the STs 1%. An SC/ST student whose family’s annual income is up to Rs 2.5 lakh can avail of the benefits of the scheme.According to the report, SC/ST students have been denied this scholarship for six years now, and for completely different reasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.Also read: Why Aren’t Enough Students From Tribal Communities Receiving the National Overseas Scholarship?In 2016, the Bihar government’s SC/ST welfare department restructured the fee to rationalise the fee structure between government and private colleges, ranging from annual Rs 2,000 to Rs 90,000. The move led to several students discontinuing higher education or professional courses.The newspaper spoke to students from Bihar who described how the fee restructuring move in 2016 impacted them.Muzaffarpur-based Vikash Kumar Das, who joined a five-year BA LLB integrated programme (2015-20), was not able to pay his fee after the Bihar government restructured the fee in 2016. He was also denied a bank loan as he didn’t have any collateral for a Rs 10-lakh loan. He was able to complete his course with the help of private donations, by selling off a piece of land and his mother’s jewellery.Pramod Kumar, assistant director, SC/ST welfare department, had earlier told the Patna high court that different institutes were charging different fees for the same course, so it was pertinent to rationalise the fee structure for reimbursement of fees.The Patna high court directed the Bihar government to submit a report on this matter while hearing a plea by Samastipur resident Rajiv Kumar.A state is expected to spend about Rs 115 crore each year under the scheme, and it can also avail any amount from the Centre above its annual committed liability. However, Bihar could barely spend around Rs 60 crore annually between 2017-18 and 2019-20. And, therefore, between 2017-18 and 2019-20, Bihar did not qualify for any Central share since it had spent much less than its committed state liability. The scheme has not been continuing for the last three years as the state government has not received a single application under the scheme.The number of beneficiaries for the scheme fell to 39,792 in 2018-19 from 155,000 in 2015-16.In 2016-17, the number of beneficiaries plunged to 37,372 and in 2017-18, 70,886 students availed of the benefits from the scheme.Sanjay Kumar, additional chief secretary, education, told the daily: “There has surely been delay in implementation of the scheme because of technical issues with the National Scholarship portal. We have been provided a single window on the portal. We have requested for a separate site and hope to get it streamlined very soon… But it will be wrong to assume or say that it has been discontinued.”