On the chilly morning of December 6, an unmistakable excitement filled Hameeri Kalan Senior Secondary School in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. It was not just another day for the gathered students, teachers, and parents — it felt like a grand celebration, a festival of scholarships.
Class 9 student Kajal rushed to her mother, who had taken a break from her daily wage labor. “Maa, can I have the mobile?” she asked, breathless with anticipation. “What for?” her mother inquired as she handed over the phone. Kajal swiped the screen, and her face instantly brightened. “It happened! The money has arrived!” she exclaimed joyfully. Other students, witnessing this, dashed to their parents, grabbing phones, dialing, and checking messages. “I got an SMS too!” one student shouted. Another chimed in, saying Rs 3,600 had been credited to their account. The staff and teachers from the nonprofit Piramal Foundation looked on, proud. “It felt like hitting a jackpot. Very often, students don’t receive their scholarships even after graduating,” shared Rajkamal Kataria, the vice-principal of Hameeri Kalan School.
In a scholarship landscape often filled with delays and distrust, Digi Vritti, a digital pilot in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, is leveraging real-time technology to expedite scholarship disbursement to students, turning a process that used to take months into one that can now be completed in days. Just as a FASTag eliminates toll delays and Digi Yatra streamlines airport boarding.
Ajay Piramal, chairman of the Piramal Group, views the Digi Vritti pilot not merely as a solution to inefficiencies, but as a visionary approach to delivering opportunities to India’s most deserving students. “The current scholarship system is fraught with challenges. From cumbersome manual verifications and disbursement delays to a lack of trust among beneficiaries, worthy students often find themselves without timely support,” he explains. Digi Vritti seeks to reduce benefit delivery timelines from 40 weeks to less than a week, utilizing digital wallets and verifiable credentials to streamline processes and enhance transparency.
Sher Singh Rajput and Shraddha Mishra from the Piramal Foundation highlighted that the pilot was launched at Hameeri Kalan and Bajawa Suron Ka schools, both serving a significant number of SC/ST and marginalized students, where historically fewer than 20% of eligible students received scholarships. The platform, built on the Open Network for Employment and Skilling Transformation (ONEST) — part of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) framework — links students in need of scholarships with bhamashahs (donors). “Think of it as Flipkart,” Rajput elaborates. “Just as buyers connect with sellers — it’s as straightforward as that.” This platform has the potential to incorporate government scholarships in the future.
How it works
This year, India allocated over Rs 50,000 crore for scholarships and benefits to uplift marginalized communities, which make up about a quarter of the nation’s population. Yet, a substantial portion of these funds remain unutilized. A study conducted by the Piramal Foundation reveals that extensive paperwork and disjointed systems deter students from applying.
Students across India must navigate various portals, often grappling with unreliable internet access while applying for scholarships. Frequent mismatches of Aadhaar cards or caste certificates compel families to repeatedly visit government offices. Applicants are also required to spend between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 for each application. “It’s discouraging to urge them to fill out forms when we cannot predict when — or if — they will actually receive their scholarship. Many have given up on applying altogether,” notes Kisturi, a teacher overseeing the process at the school.
For Suman, a laborer under MNREGA, every moment wasted on chasing documentation for her daughter Ronak’s scholarship equates to lost income. “I have been waiting for her scholarship since she was in Class 6, and now she is in Class 9. Last time, I spent around Rs 1,000 on photocopies, bank visits, and running from office to office. That’s what I earn in 10 days of toiling,” laments Suman.
Digi Vritti addresses these challenges by simplifying the application process (see box). It ensures scholarships are more comprehensible, guaranteeing even minor grants, such as for exam fees or skill-building courses, reach the right students swiftly. Document verification happens directly at the school, sidestepping the usual bureaucratic hurdles. According to district block education officer Manish Kumar Chahar, a major advantage is that students will no longer need to apply repeatedly. “They will receive notifications about scholarships that match their profiles and eligibility,” he shares. Piramal views this initiative as a blueprint for broader reform. “Philanthropy and technology are increasingly intersecting to tackle profound systemic issues,” he reflects. “Digi Vritti embodies this convergence.”
