PM CARES for Children Statistics 2026: Scholarship Beneficiaries by Year
· 2 min read · 3 official sources
The Scholarship for PM CARES Children reached 2,855 school-going children in 2025-26, down from 3,847 in 2022-23, according to a Lok Sabha reply published by PIB in December 2025. Each child in Class 1 to 12 gets Rs 20,000 a year by Direct Benefit Transfer. Year-wise figures are below.
PM CARES for Children: key numbers
Infographic
Children paid the PM CARES scholarship, by year
Number of beneficiaries to whom the Scholarship for PM CARES Children was transferred in each financial year, as given by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in Lok Sabha.
| Financial year | Beneficiaries |
|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 3,847 |
| 2023-24 | 3,676 |
| 2024-25 | 3,383 |
| 2025-26 | 2,855 |
Source: pib.gov.in, as on 16 December 2025
What the scholarship pays
Parts of the Scholarship for PM CARES Children for each eligible child in Class 1 to 12, paid by Direct Benefit Transfer to an Aadhaar-linked bank account.
| Component | Amount (Rs) |
|---|---|
| Monthly stipend, per month | 1,000 |
| Annual academic allowance, per year | 8,000 |
| Total scholarship, per year | 20,000 |
Source: pib.gov.in, as on 16 December 2025
How a PM CARES child gets support
What the numbers show
The Scholarship for PM CARES Children is the part of the PM CARES for Children scheme that pays school-going children directly. According to a written reply in Lok Sabha published by PIB on 16 December 2025, the scholarship was transferred to 3,847 children in 2022-23, 3,676 in 2023-24, 3,383 in 2024-25 and 2,855 in 2025-26.
Each of these children gets Rs 20,000 a year: a stipend of Rs 1,000 a month plus an annual academic allowance of Rs 8,000 for school fees, books, uniforms, shoes and other costs. The money goes by Direct Benefit Transfer into a bank account linked with Aadhaar.
Why the count goes down every year
The scholarship is only for children studying in Class 1 to Class 12. The PM CARES for Children scheme covers children who lost both parents, the surviving parent, a legal guardian or adoptive parents to COVID-19, so the group of eligible children is fixed. Each year some of them finish Class 12 and move out of this scholarship, which is why the number falls steadily.
Older children are not dropped from the scheme itself. After school they can use the other parts of PM CARES for Children, such as help with higher education and the stipend paid from the corpus between ages 18 and 23.
What the figures do not tell you
The figures count children to whom the scholarship was transferred in a year. They do not show how many children are enrolled in PM CARES for Children overall, since some are below school age, some have finished school and some may not have received a payment in a given year. The 2025-26 figure was given in December 2025, partway through that financial year, so the final number for the year may be different.
The reply also does not give state-wise numbers. For the status of a particular child, the District Child Protection Unit or the District Magistrate's office is the right place to ask.
Where the data comes from
All figures on this page come from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment's reply in Lok Sabha, published by the Press Information Bureau. We will update the table when a newer official figure is released.
Frequently asked questions
How many children get the PM CARES scholarship?
The Scholarship for PM CARES Children was transferred to 2,855 children in 2025-26, according to a Lok Sabha reply published by PIB on 16 December 2025. The figure was 3,383 in 2024-25.
How much is the PM CARES scholarship?
Each eligible child gets Rs 20,000 a year. This is made up of a stipend of Rs 1,000 a month and an annual academic allowance of Rs 8,000 for fees, books, uniforms and shoes.
Why is the number of scholarship recipients falling?
The scholarship covers only children in Class 1 to 12. As the children covered by the scheme finish school, they leave this scholarship, so the count drops each year. No new children are being added for losses after the scheme's cut-off.
Who pays the PM CARES scholarship?
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment runs the scholarship as a Central Sector scheme and pays it by Direct Benefit Transfer into the child's Aadhaar-linked bank account.
Is the scholarship the same in every state?
Yes. The ministry says the scheme is implemented uniformly across all states and union territories, so the amount and rules do not change by state.
Eligibility, documents and how to apply: PM CARES for Children full guide
Charts, data files and the infographic are free to download, share and embed with a link back to this page.
Sources
This guide was checked against these official pages:
- pib.gov.in (www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2204724)
- pib.gov.in (www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2043687)
- pib.gov.in (www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1883404)