Among the 15 guarantees that Arvind Kejriwal promised, in 2025 to the people of Delhi, was a scheme to fund the full costs of higher studies of Dalit students in foreign universities.

 

It was an expansion of AAP's 2019 scholarship scheme under which Dalit students were offered funding between ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh for higher education courses like M.Phil. PhD, LLM and M.Tech. 

 

An RTI filed by JIST revealed that only 6 Dalit students from Delhi were sent abroad by the previous AAP government for higher studies in the four years from 2020 to 2024. Against the promised ₹5 crore annual fund, only ₹2.15 crore was allocated in four years. The amount utilised was just ₹30 lakh.

 

Despite the 2019 scheme having flopped, Kejriwal went ahead during the 2025 Delhi election campaign to promise an expanded version of the earlier scheme.

 

He promised that if AAP government were to get re-elected, it would fund the 'full expenses' of the higher studies of Dalit students in foreign universities. The 'full expense' in Kejriwal's words would include tuition fees, flight charges, staying and boarding costs on foreign soil of the selected Dalit students.