Students belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) have warned of launching a larger protest after alleging prolonged delays in the disbursement of post-matric scholarships for the 2024–25 financial year.

A large number of OBC students have reportedly not received their scholarships yet. In protest, they gheraoed the Director of the OBC Welfare Department, demanding immediate release of the pending stipends. 

The students cautioned that if payments are not made at the earliest, they will stage a sit-in demonstration in the coming days.

Speaking to the media after submitting a deputation, a student representative said many tribal and OBC students have been deprived of their post-matric scholarships this year. Due to the prolonged delay in fund disbursement by the department, numerous students are facing serious difficulties.

He emphasized that students from economically weaker families depend entirely on these scholarships to continue their education. The delay, he said, has pushed many into uncertainty regarding their academic future. The students had recently submitted a deputation to the department pressing the same demand.

The student leader urged authorities to clear the outstanding scholarship payments immediately, warning that the organization would be compelled to intensify its protest if the issue is not resolved soon.

Meanwhile, the Director of the department held discussions with the agitating students. He stated that the delay in scholarship distribution is due to non-receipt of funds from the central government under the concerned scheme. He assured that the scholarships would be disbursed promptly once the funds are received.