Bengaluru: At a time when thousands of students across Karnataka are fighting for the basic right to education and safe accommodation, the Congress-led state government has virtually raised its hands in helplessness, admitting on record that it simply has no funds left to sanction new student hostels or clear mounting scholarship dues.
The sorry state of the Backward Classes Welfare Department is just one glaring example. An official letter dated July 2, 2025 — now accessed by RTI reveals that the department has bluntly rejected a long-pending proposal to sanction a new post-matric girls’ hostel in Mahantapur village, Afzalpur taluk, Kalaburagi district. The reason? “No additional funds can be provided,” the letter states, echoing the government’s hollow coffers and helplessness.
This is not an isolated case. Across the state, hostels meant for backward classes, SC/ST and minority students are bursting at the seams, with thousands forced to study in unsafe or overcrowded conditions — if they get a hostel seat at all. The same letter reveals that despite repeated demands from local MLAs and communities, no new hostels can be built because there is simply no money to pay for them.
Scholarship backlog, empty promises
The rot runs deeper. The numbers tell a grim tale. In Kalaburagi district alone, over 39,000 backward class students are still waiting for hostel admissions. Statewide, in the post-matric category, more than 1.9 lakh new applications poured in last year — but less than half got seats. Pre-matric hostels fared no better, with thousands of poor students left out in the cold.
It’s the same story with scholarships. The government’s own data shows that more than 91,000 post-matric scholarship applications are stuck in limbo under the Backward Classes Department alone. Over 40,000 more are pending in the Scheduled Castes Welfare Department and the Minority Welfare Department. Fee reimbursements worth hundreds of crores are overdue. For lakhs of students, this means the money they desperately need to pay their college dues, books, rent, and meals is simply not coming.
Half-spent grants, idle funds
Shockingly, while students plead for scholarships and hostels, huge chunks of the money that was actually sanctioned lies unused. The Minority Welfare Department sat on over Rs 18 crore meant for the Vidyasiri scheme — not spending even a rupee until months into the financial year. Of the total ₹3,059 crore allocated to the department, only 41 per cent was spent by December.
While Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan boasts that 7.85 lakh students are receiving scholarships “from primary to higher education”, the government’s own reports expose the hollow truth: thousands of applications are rejected or left pending simply because there is no cash left to clear them.
Empty words, no accountability
Adding insult to injury, even the small support that does trickle through is riddled with delays. Fee refunds dating back to 2020-21 are still pending for lakhs of students. The state still needs at least Rs 263 crore just to clear these old dues. Despite repeated proposals, there’s no clarity on when — or whether — this money will ever come.
While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Welfare Minister Shivraj Thangadgi announce new hostel buildings on paper and pose for photo-ops, the truth is that even construction work on 82 hostels remains stuck for want of funds. Officially, the government has announced ₹200 crore for hostel construction this year — but on the ground, only 15 new hostels have seen any progress.
No funds, no plan — who pays the price?
The Congress government continues to make big claims about social justice and minority welfare. But the ground reality is painfully clear students from poor and backward families are bearing the brunt of empty exchequers and hollow announcements. Every pending application is a young life put on hold. Every rejected hostel proposal is a door shut on a child’s dream.
When the treasury is empty, the promises are meaningless. And when the promises are meaningless, who really cares about the future of Karnataka’s students? The answer, tragically, seems to be no one in power.
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