LUCKNOW, June 10 -- Nearly 16 months after its initial announcement, and with the assembly elections drawing closer, the higher education department is yet to fix the eligibility criteria for the beneficiaries. In a span of just three weeks, another presentation made by the department before chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday remained inconclusive, said officials Earlier on May 20, a similar presentation was made, and in that meeting too, the department did not come up with the eligibility criteria. "On Tuesday, the chief minster asked everyone present to first let him know the criteria fixed by UP higher education department. The department had no clear answer to his question," an insider, who was present at the meeting, said. However, principal secretary (higher education) MP Agarwal said: "We will soon reach at a financial decision on the eligibility issue." Higher education minister Yogendra Upadhyay was not available for comment. Repeated phone calls by this scribe went unanswered. UP finance minister Suresh Khanna announced the scheme in the state budget for 2025-26, but it failed to gain momentum thereafter. A year later, in February 2026, Rs.400 crore was allocated in the state budget for 2026-27 for implementation of the scheme. On International Women's Day on March 8 this year, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the scheme would be rolled out soon....