IndiaFOSS 2026 · Diversity Scholarship report
IndiaFOSS is a festival of open source and digital commons, and we want it to belong to everyone who cares about them. The Diversity Scholarship is how we make sure that cost, distance or background don't decide who gets to be in the room. It covers the festival ticket, and travel and stay where needed, for people from groups that are under-represented in open source. This report looks at who applied, who we supported, where the money went and what we'll do differently next year.
- 93% of applicants asked for travel support. We reimbursed travel for 30 scholars.
- 1 in 4 scholars is from a religious or ethnic minority. Among applicants it was 1 in 8.
- 10 T4GC fellows, 14 FOSS Clubs reps and 7 city chapter reps were part of this year's scholars.
- We checked travel claims against standard train fares. Travel reimbursements came to ₹1,28,227.25 for 30 scholars, which gave us more room to support more people.
- Next year we'll open applications with the CFP, shorten the handbook, and ask every scholar for the same basic details so we can tell whether our DEI work is making a difference.
Who applied
Each dot is one application. The coloured dots show how many applicants fit each description.
385
applications came in between 15 June and 7 August. Last year we got 304, and in 2024, 140.
359
applicants asked for help with travel, and 330 asked for a place to stay. That's more than 9 in 10 people. For almost everyone, getting to Bengaluru was the hardest part.
350
applicants are students, 24 are working professionals and 11 are neither (they chose "other"). We gave students priority in selection.
172
applicants are women. 13 identify as LGBTQIA+, 48 are from a religious or ethnic minority and 3 have a disability. People could tick more than one.
192
applicants are from Tier 2 or Tier 3 towns. That's half of everyone who applied, from 21 states and union territories.
141
applications came from Kerala, more than a third of the total. Thiruvananthapuram (23), Palakkad (18), Kochi (16) and Kasaragod (14) sent the most.
Outside Kerala, a few towns sent many at once: Jabalpur (23), Sheikhpura (8) and Rewa (7). These most likely came from one college or club sharing the form.
Who the scholars are
Most scholars were students (54 of 65), and nearly half were women. Among them were 14 FOSS Clubs reps, 3 FOSS Clubs committee members and 7 city chapter reps. 49 of the 65 answered the questions about which groups they belong to. 21 of them ticked two or more.
What scholars told us about themselves
These questions were optional, and anyone could choose not to answer. 49 of our 65 scholars answered them. The rest either opted out, or joined through our communities and partners where we collected less information. So the percentages below are out of the 49 who answered, except for women, which is out of all 65 scholars. People could tick more than one box, so the numbers don't add up to 100%.
All 65 scholars
Each dot is one scholar, shown three ways.
Where scholars came from
Scholars travelled from 37 towns and cities in 14 states and union territories, from Srinagar in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south, and from Ahmedabad in the west to Kamrup in the east.
7 scholars are from Bengaluru itself, and 7 more from other parts of Karnataka. Kerala sent 14, from Thiruvananthapuram and other towns. Tamil Nadu sent 13, from Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai, Viluppuram, Mullikadu and other towns. Delhi sent 5. The rest travelled from further away: Raigarh, Bhilai and Jashpur in Chhattisgarh; Jabalpur and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh; Nagpur and Pune in Maharashtra; Jalpaiguri and Kolkata in West Bengal; Samastipur and Meghwal in Bihar; Kamrup in Assam; Ahmedabad in Gujarat; Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir; Telangana; and Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh.
On the map, Bengaluru sits at the centre of the rings. The further away a dot is, the further those scholars travelled, and bigger dots mean more scholars. The distance rings are approximate and only there to give a sense of how far people came.
How we ran it
We shared the call on social media, newsletters, the forum, FOSS Clubs and city chapter groups, with past scholars, and by word of mouth.
Applications opened on 15 June and closed on 7 August. We sent decisions on 18 August, 38 days before the festival, and scholars had until 23 August to confirm. We held a welcome call on 11 September and a prep call on 22 September. The scholar orientation was on 25 September, the first day of the festival.
8 reviewers went through the applications together online, using a shared rubric. We first checked whether each application was eligible. Then we scored it on four things: need, motivation, contribution to open source or community, and how consistent the application was. Students got priority over working professionals. There was no fixed amount per person. It depended on distance and need, and we checked travel amounts against standard train fares for each region. Every acceptance email said whether it covered travel, stay or only the ticket.
Every scholar got a festival ticket. We also covered travel and stay where needed, as far as the budget allowed.
Where the money came from, and where it went
Our institutional sponsor has committed to support the scholarship for three years, and this is the second year. How much the public fund drive raises decides how many more people we can bring.
Payment gateway fees and GST on income: ₹2,368. This includes GST.
Travel covers 30 scholars. Stay covers 31 scholars for three nights. Every one of the 65 scholars got a festival ticket, which costs ₹3,000.
Three years of the scholarship
Applications have almost tripled since 2024, while the number of scholars has stayed around 60. Each year we've also learned more about who our scholars are. We collect this information carefully, every question has a way to opt out, and we use it only to check whether the scholarship is reaching the people it's meant for.
Year by year
In 2024 we counted women only. This year the form has an option for women and non-binary people. LGBTQIA+ and disability weren't recorded in 2024.
Scholars by state
| State or UT | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnataka | 14 | 15 | 14 |
| Kerala | 7 | 6 | 14 |
| Tamil Nadu | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Delhi | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Chhattisgarh | 7 | – | 4 |
| Maharashtra | 7 | 11 | 3 |
| Madhya Pradesh | – | – | 3 |
| Bihar | – | 8 | 2 |
| West Bengal | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Uttar Pradesh | – | 9 | 1 |
| Gujarat | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Assam | – | 1 | 1 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | – | 1 | 1 |
| Telangana | – | 1 | 1 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 2 | 2 | – |
| Rajasthan | 3 | – | – |
| Himachal Pradesh | 2 | – | – |
| Uttarakhand | – | 2 | – |
| Jharkhand | 1 | – | – |
| Puducherry | – | 1 | – |
What we said we'd do last year
Four things we promised in the 2025 report, and where each one stands.
- ✓ Write a Diversity Scholarship Handbook. Done. It covers selection criteria, cost limits and documentation steps. Scholars said it's too long, so we'll add a short summary.
- ✓ Confirm scholars at least a month before the event. Done. We sent decisions 38 days before.
- ~ Open applications with the CFP and review on a rolling basis. Partly. We reviewed on a rolling basis, but opened applications a little after the CFP.
- ✓ Send a feedback survey to scholars. Done.
In their words
26 scholars said they'd be happy to write about their time at the festival, and 10 more said maybe.
8 scholars have filled in the feedback form so far. All of them said the handbook was too long and a short summary of the important points would help. 4 of them didn't know there were mentors at the event for them.
“As a first-time attendee, I got to explore many interesting projects, learn new things, and discover projects I would like to contribute to. It was a really useful experience for me. Nothing was unclear or difficult for me. Everything was explained properly in the document. I missed both in person meetups because I was an Audi-1 volunteer on both days.”
Juned Pinjari, IndiaFOSS 2026
“Halls were jam packed, could feel the Open Source in the Air and it was a great experience talking to new people and having new experiences too! The Panel Discussion on the second day where they Discussed about the current job market situation, it gave me hope and closure that I am not alone who is facing the music but it is alot of people too. I was not aware of the diversity scholar meetups, :') I just went in blind and had a good time nonetheless”
Praneel Sindhole, IndiaFOSS 2026
“About the stay was not confirmed where and when so if next time it's know a bit earlier would be helpful everything else was perfect. In person couldn't meet any diversity scholars as I didn't knew where it was held until it was over”
Shibin Eugin, IndiaFOSS 2026
“I lost my tickets which was required for reimbursement , could you all find a different way for ppl like me to get the reimbursement , cuz while travelling its really common to loose things often. Yes , I attended Security Devroom , where there was a talk which was purely hardware stuff and me being a software person the talk made me curious and interested in hardware and now I have a arduino Uno Q where I am trying to run k3s on it and I find it interesting . Also I met lot of folks and did networking with them and my perespective about tech keeps changing and getting updating , if not this conf I would have not gotten to to meet so diverse kind of ppl and network with them , Thank you FOSS United ”
Varsha U N, IndiaFOSS 2026
"Everything was clear avout the scholarship. I attended the one on the first on 26th september.We clicked a picture it was very new to me to meet new people.The second day i didnt check the telegram group. I feel like instead of a telegram group alerting us with the updates we could use something within the foss website or a whatsapp . I was really into gooey.ai's project because i myself was building something similar so talking to them gave me new ideas to go about with my project."
Anonymous Feedback, IndiaFOSS 2026
"Tangled was amazing booth also juspay new open source tech was really good. I attended in person meetup, met Ruchika and Garvit sharma."
Naman Jain, IndiaFOSS 2026
What we'll do differently in 2027
Two things matter most: starting earlier, and having good information about every scholar, however they came to us.
Start earlier
- Open applications when the CFP opens, review them as they come in, and send every decision one to two months before the festival.
- Grow the public fund drive so we can support more people.
Clearer information for scholars
- Put the handbook on the application page, with a one-page summary, fare benchmarks and what we do and don't reimburse.
- Record the online scholar sync and share notes after. Many scholars missed it and didn't hear about the meet-ups and mentors.
- Publish notes from the Diversity Scholars meet, with attendance.
- Confirm stay details earlier and share updates somewhere other than just Telegram.
Better data
- Ask every scholar to fill in the same form, including those who come through partners or our communities. This helps us see if we're making progress, including on things a headcount can't show.
- Make demographic and location questions required, each with a "Prefer not to say" option.
- Add optional questions on first-time attendance and household income. Several applicants brought these up themselves.
- Send the feedback form a day or two after the event, and share what we learn.
- Improve the application and feedback forms.
Thank you
Thank you to our institutional sponsor, individual sponsors and everyone who gave to the fund drive. Thank you to the reviewers who went through 385 applications. And thank you to the 645 scholars who travelled to be at IndiaFOSS 2026.
We used Claude, by Anthropic, to help turn our data into the charts and layout of this report. We only gave it totals from our own report draft. No names, contact details or anything that could identify a person were shared.
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