LUCKNOW, May 21 -- Fifteen months after the Rani Laxmi Bai Scooty scheme was announced, the higher education department is yet to fix the eligibility criteria for the beneficiaries. This fact came to the fore during a presentation before chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday as department officials reportedly could not answer the CM's query about whether any eligibility criteria had been determined. "The CM asked everyone present to first let him know the criteria fixed by UP higher education department. The minister and bureaucrats were not prepared with any answer. The department had no clear answer to Yogi's question," an insider, who was present at the meeting, said. When contacted, higher education minister Yogendra Upadhyaya said, "The chief minister told us to first decide the eligibility criteria and come better prepared the next time. I have told officers to work on a formula so that genuine women students benefit from the scheme and pursue their higher education." 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 , chief minister Yogi Adityanath said the scheme would be rolled out soon. MP Agarwal, principal secretary, higher education, was not available for comment. htc...