That cold morning of December 6, there was a quiet buzz at Hameeri Kalan’s senior high school in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. For students, teachers and parents gathered there, it was not an ordinary day. He felt like a festival: a scholarship festival.
The 9 Kajal class student, grabbing his notebook, ran to his mother, who had removed the morning of his work as a daily salary worker. “Maa, Mobile de Na,” he asked, anxious and breathless. “Kai Karegi?” His mother said, delivering the phone. Kajal hit the screen, and suddenly, his face lit. “Ho gaya! Paisa Aa Gaya! “She shouted. Other students lifted their sight and quickly ran to their parents, grabbing phones, marking numbers and checking messages.” Mujhe Bhi SMS Aaya! ” Pyramal Foundation Who stared at, was a proud moment. “He felt like a lottery. Very often, students do not receive their scholarships even after fainting from school, ”says Vice President of the Hameeri Kalan School, Vice President Rajkamal Kataria.
In a scholarship system full of delays and distrust, Digi VrittiA small digital pilot in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan is using Real -time technology To help students get their scholarships in a few days, not months. As well as a Fastag gets rid of toll tails and digi yatra accelerates airport shipment.
For Pyramal Group President Ajay Piramal, Digi Vritti’s pilot is not just about fixing delays and inefficiencies. It is about reinventing how India offers opportunities for your most deserving students. “The existing scholarship system faces numerous challenges. From manual verification and disbursement delays to trust deficits among beneficiaries, deserving students often run out of timely support, ”he says. Digi Vritti aims to reduce the delivery times of 40 weeks to less than a week, using verifiable digital and credential wallets to simplify the processes and guarantee transparency.
Sher Singh Rajput and Shraddha Mishra, of the Piramal Foundation, say that two schools were chosen for the pilot, Hameeri Kalan and Bajawa Suron Ka, since both had a large number of students SC/ST and marginalized, with less than 20% of those scholarships eligible over the years. The platform, driven by the open network for the transformation of employment and training (ITONT), part of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) frame, connects students who need scholarships with Bhamashah (donors). “It’s like Flipkart,” Rajput explains. “Buyers are paired with vendors, it’s as simple as that.” This system could increase to include government scholarships in the future.
How it works
Each year, India reserves more than 50,000 million rupees for scholarships and benefits to support marginalized communities, almost a quarter of the population. However, much of this money does not happen. A study by the Pyramal Foundation highlights how the endless paperwork and fragmented systems discourage the students of the application.
Most students in India must navigate multiple portals, often without reliable Internet access to request scholarships. Aadhaar cards or caste certificates often do not coincide, which forces families to make repeated trips to government offices. In addition, for each application, one must distribute between RS 500 and RS 1,000. “It is discouraging to make the forms fill, since we never know when and if the children will receive the amount of the scholarship. Most of them have stopped applying, ”says Kisturi, a school teacher who manages the process.
For Mnrega’s worker, every minute he lost the paperwork for his daughter Ronak’s scholarship means lost salaries. “I have been waiting for his scholarship since he was in class 6. Now he is in class 9. The last time, I spent almost 1,000 rs in photocopies, bank visits, I ran from one office to another. That is what I win in 10 days of hard work,” says Summan.
Digi Vritti eliminates these weak points when facilitating the process (see box). It also makes scholarships easier to understand, ensuring that even small subsidies such as exam rates or specialization courses quickly reach the right students. The verification of all documents occurs directly at school, crossing the usual layers of bureaucracy. The Manish Kumar Chahar District Block Education says the best part is that students will not have to run repeatedly. “They will simply receive notifications on scholarships that coincide with their eligibility and profiles,” he says. Pyramal sees this project as a model for broader reforms. “Philanthropy and technology are increasingly convergent to address deep systemic challenges,” he explains. “Digi Vritti exemplifies this synergy.”