Delays in Implementing SVSAES Rajasthan Government Scheme for Funding Higher Education: Many Aspirations Cut Short
Udaipur, July 5, 2026: If the new state governments could focus on implementation rather than being busy with changing names of public places, government schemes and policies, it would have led to continued benefits for the citizens of the country, specially students.
One such example is the Swami Vivekananda Scholarship for Academic Excellence. Formerly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship for Academic Excellence, this scheme was announced on August 20, 2021 by the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, in commemoration of late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. The scheme provides financial assistance to meritorious students from Rajasthan to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral studies at universities ranked among the top 150 in the QS World University Rankings.
However, since the formation of the new BJP government in Rajasthan, the scheme has been flooded with inaction and apathy by the stakeholders, while the only thing that changed immediately was the name. State inaction, expiring deadlines and visa delays have led to many students being denied what was due to them.
Three Month Delay in 2025; Revamp in 2026
In 2025-26, there was a three month delay, but there was a notification from the government for this delay. Those who lost out had no option. However, in 2026-27, there had been no announcement from the government, which leaves many applicant students clueless about their further studies.
The Rajasthan government will be announcing the details of this policy by the third week of July, but with major revamps, that will make the scheme more competitive but may result in many applicants quitting due to possible missed deadlines. With the scheme being announced in the middle of July, the applications and selections may go well past the university deadlines in some countries.
For the 2025-26 academic year, the selection lists were declared from October 2025 till April 2026, which meant that those opting for courses in 2025-26 academic year had lost out - will the same happen this year?
The Commissioner, College Education, Government of Rajasthan, speaking to the Times of India, has mentioned that the policy document for the said scheme will be declared on Wednesday, 8 July. As per the media reports, the scheme is expected to see a major revamp and cap the number of applicants to nearly 50% of the earlier number. He added that the income cap would remain unchanged and the existing 30% quota for women would also be considered.
Please follow this post for the new scheme to be announced.
