The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives (SFPI) has announced plans to expand its Vidyadhan scholarship programme to reach 1 lakh economically disadvantaged students across India by 2029.

The initiative, which began in Kerala in 1999, currently operates in 22 states and union territories and has so far awarded 63,000 scholarships, according to the report by The New Indian Express.

The scholarship, which supports students from Class 11 through to graduation, offers financial aid ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 75,000 per year depending on the course. It also includes mentoring, counselling, and career guidance. In 2024–25, 4,900 students were newly onboarded.

The organisation expects to reach 13,000 active students by 2025–26, including 3,410 new entries for Class 11.

According to an the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode study cited by SFPI, graduates of the programme earn salaries three times the scholarship amount in their first year of employment. The same report states that within one to two years of graduation, families of recipients typically move above the poverty line.

Data shared by SFPI shows that 60 per cent of beneficiaries are girls, 90 per cent come from rural areas, and 5 per cent are persons with disabilities. The programme reports over 4,000 alumni working in private sector companies such as Infosys, Accenture, and ICICI Bank.

The scholarship model allows for individual and corporate sponsorships, with the organisation claiming that 100 per cent of the donation goes directly to students, with no administrative deductions. Sponsors are matched one-on-one with beneficiaries, as per the report by The New Indian Express.