New Delhi: The NSUI on Saturday staged a protest outside the Ministry of Education at Shastri Bhawan here, alleging that the BJP-led Central government was dismantling student welfare schemes and targeting marginalised communities through cuts in fellowships and irregularities in recruitment.

The protest drew hundreds of students and ended with the detention of several NSUI activists by Delhi Police, the Congress' student wing said in an official statement.

Leaders of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) accused the government of making significant cuts to student scholarships. They claimed that post-matric and pre-matric scholarships for SC, ST, OBC, and minority students had been slashed by 40 per cent, with disbursements frequently delayed.

They also condemned the discontinuation of the Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF), stating that its removal had forced thousands of minority students to abandon higher education and research.

The protesting students demanded an immediate revision of the National Eligibility Test (NET) fellowship amount, which has remained unchanged at ₹8,000 per month since 2006.

With rising inflation and cost of living, the NSUI argued that the stipend should be brought on par with the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF).

They also flagged delays in the National Overseas Fellowship, saying the uncertain timeline had left many aspiring scholars stranded.

Concerns over transparency in recruitment were also raised. The NSUI alleged large-scale irregularities in examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), claiming tenders were being awarded to blacklisted companies, thereby eroding public trust in these institutions.

Addressing the protest, NSUI leaders accused the BJP-led government of outsourcing education and undermining the constitutional promise of equality.

"This government is privatising education and pushing out the underprivileged. They want to run education on the basis of exclusion," said one of the protestors, adding that the organisation would continue its agitation.

The student group denounced the police crackdown and called it a move to silence democratic voices.

The NSUI announced plans to take the protest to campuses across the country in the coming weeks.