GOI’s Post-Matric Scholarship for SC Students

The GOI’s post-matric scholarship for SC students is to motivate SC students to carry on their higher educations.
Many SC students get benefits from this scholarship scheme, complete their studies, and are ranked in higher and more respectable positions in society. But still, the Gross Enrollment Ratio of scheduled caste students in higher education is not satisfactory.

The details of this assistance are explained in this article, including scope, eligibility criteria, group-wise compensation rate, the application process, document requirements, financial benefits, and the mode of payment.

Objective

It’s been noticed that various students who belong to poor families, left their studies after matriculation. The financial hurdles forbid the students belong to Scheduled Castes. The Government of India is focusing to encourage SC students to get enroll in higher studies. The financial assistance is thereby designed to increase enrolment ratio.

Scope: GOI’s Post-Matric Scholarship for SC Students

These scholarships are only for students of India who pursue their studies in India. The eligibility of SC students is verified by competent authorities as per their state government or union territory.

Different groups have been formed to motivate the students to pursue their higher studies in their desired fields.

Group A: Degree and Post-Graduate Level Professional Courses

This group consists of the following courses/degree/certificate programs

(I) Professional Courses

• Medicine
• Engineering
• Technology
• Planning
• Architecture
• Design
• Fashion Technology
• Agriculture
• Computer Science/Application

(II) Post-Graduate Diploma Courses
This category includes various diploma courses in branches of Management and Medicine.

(III) C.A/I.C.W.A/C.F.A/C.S etc

(IV) M.Phil., Ph.D and Post-Doctoral Programmes (D.Lit., D.Sc etc.) of category I, II and III courses

(V) L.L.B, integrated L.L.B, L.L.M

Group B: Other Professional Courses leading to Degree, Diploma, Certificate

Group B, comprises the following courses:

• All professional courses leading to M.Ed./M.Pharma, Diploma Certificate (Pharmacy, B Pharma, Nursing, B Nursing, BFS, other para-medical brances like Rehabilitation, Diagnosis etc.
• Mass Communication
• Hotel Management & Catering
• Travel/Tourism/
• Hospitality Management
• Interior Decoration
• Nutrition & Dietetics
• Commercial Art
• Financial Services (e.g. Banking, Insurance, Taxation etc.)

The minimum qualification to get enrolled in this group is 12 Standard Pass, Vocational stream, ITI courses, and Polytechnic

Group C: Graduate and Post Graduate Courses

All other courses which are not covered in Group A & B such as B.A/B.Sc./B.Com/M.Com/M.A/M.Sc. etc.

Group D: Post-Matric Non-Degree Courses

• Standard 11 or 12 (General & Vocational)
• ITI Courses
• 3-year diploma courses in polytechnics etc.

This group includes all non-degree courses that require a matriculation pass certificate.

Eligibility Criteria for GOI’s Post-Matric Scholarships to SC Students

The State Government is working hard to identify the poorest households who face difficulty in continuing their education due to financial hurdles. Additionally, these candidates would be monitored so that they pursue their studies, these may include:

• SC households with more deprivations as per SECC-2011
• SC households with one or both parents are illiterate
• Who passed matriculation from State Government/Municipality/Local Body School

The state, in consultation with the State Skill Mission, prioritizes new enrollments in trending skill courses of at least 1 year in duration, which have the potential to lead to employment.

The state will identify the students and encourage them to join back their studies who dropped out after the 12th standard.

The following criteria must be met to get GOI’s post-matric scholarships to SC students.

Students Eligibility Criteria

• This scholarship is only for Indian nationals
• Students of scheduled castes
• Students who passed standard 10 or 12 or higher education from recognized universities/ institutions
• Family income from all sources should not exceed 2.5 lakh during the last financial year
• For admission in different classes as regular students, the age limit should be decided by the concerned institution
• Students who continue their education at the same stage/level after passing/clearing it, in a different subject will not be eligible, such as:
  • Standard 12 (science stream) after standard 12 (Arts stream)
  • B.Com after B.A
  • M.A in one subject after M.A in other subjects
• Students, who continue their studies through correspondence/online courses (distance and continuous education) are also eligible for the “Government of India’s post-matric scholarship for SC students”. No academic allowance will be paid, only non-refundable fees will be covered in this case
• All siblings who meet eligibility criteria can receive benefits from this scheme.
• The students under this scheme can opt for only one scholarship/stipend (most rewarding/beneficial to them) if awarded. However, students can enjoy free lodging or a grant or ad-hoc monetary help from the State Government or any other source for the sake of books, equipment, or for boarding/lodging expenses in addition to the scholarship amount under this scheme
• Students who got admission through arbitrary and non-transparent processes, including management quota, NRI quota, spot admissions, etc. in other words who were admitted to institutions without merit are not eligible for this scholarship. However, if the fees for courses are duly approved by the Fee Fixation/Rationalization Committee empowered by the competent authority and or if the student is admitted through a transparent process like advertisements, preparation of ranks, selection of candidates on the merit list, and publication of selection lists, etc. can be declared eligible after proper verification.
• The fulfillment of conditions as per the Government of India’s, post-SSC scholarship scheme guidelines

Institutions eligibility
The following criteria will be checked to be eligible for coverage under the GOI’s Post-Matric Scholarship for SC Students scheme.

• The schools/colleges/universities/institutions have to maintain academic standards
• Aadhar based attendance system/Courses offered/Performance of the institutions
• The schools/colleges/universities/institutions with AISHE code/UDISE code
• NAAC/NBA accreditation for higher education institutions
• Half-yearly self-audited reports of institutions to the State Government
• The institute should honor Freeship Card while enrolling students and should not force for fee payment to students who possess this card issued by the State Government
• The institutions/colleges/universities falling in any of the following catergory:
  • Deemed Universities
  • Institutions of National importance
  • UGC recognized central university/state university/autonomous colleges and Universities/colleges/ recognized under section 2(f)of UGC Act
  • Private Professional institutions affiliated to a recognized Central/State University and covered by a Fee Fixation Committee as mandated by the Supreme Court
  • All Private Universities recognized by State/Centre
  • Recognized schools/Colleges for standard 11 and 12
  • Diploma issuing institutions recognized by State/UT Governments
  • NMC/AICTE approved institutions
  • The institution/vocational Training institute affiliated with National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT)

You can also explore all other scholarships available under Digital Gujarat Scholarship

Scholarship Rates

The academic allowance, group-wise at the following rates will be awarded in GOI’s post-matric scholarship for SC students.

Additionally, approved tuition fees and other fees are also admissible besides group-wise compensation in terms of academic allowance.

Students studying C.A/I.C.W.A/C,S/U.C.F.A will be treated as a day scholar to get an academic allowance. However, academic allowance cannot be claimed by the students of correspondence/online courses.

The Academic Allowance under GOI’s post-matric scholarship for SC students will be linked with the CPI number for industrial workers. The increment will be made in April of each year.

Compulsory non-refundable fees: The fee which include enrolment/registration, tuition, Library, games, Magazine, Union, Medical Examination and other compulsory fee paid by the student to the institution or University/Board. This does not include refundable deposits such as security deposits or caution money etc.

Application Process

Students must register on the Digital Gujarat Portal or any other relevant portal based on their domicile. After registration and submitting the necessary documents, students can apply for freeship cards. This card acts like a visa, allowing admission to their chosen institution without paying tuition or hostel fees.

The freeship card process is explained below.

Freeship Card Process

Under GOI’s post-matric scholarship for SC students, the eligible students are entitled to not pay tuition and hostel fees at the time of admission to the institution. For smooth functioning, the Freeship card is introduced by the State Government. This Fresship card enables students to seek admission to institutions to pursue their higher studies with financial worries. Students are required to pay their fees once the scholarship amount is released to their bank accounts; this enables them to continue their studies worry-free.

Process: The students are advised to register at the Digital Gujarat Portal for Freeship card before the announcement of admissions in their desired courses. The registration process is quite simple, the details like Aadhaar number, the field of study/course in which the student intends to take admission (e.g. M.Sc, Diploma, Engineering etc.) and an undertaking that the fees will be submitted to the institution after getting scholarship amount.

The verification of documents like caste certificates, income certificates, merit details, etc. will be carried out automatically from the interlinked databases. After the completing registration process the Freeship card through the portal mentioning the course can be downloaded by the applicant at any time. The card will be valid for one year from the date of its issue.

The students can change their field of study by simply logging into the portal and changing the information for the fresh card before taking admission to an institution, the Freeship card will automatically be generated and can be downloaded at the same time.

The Freeship card once utilized for a particular field of study will remain valid till the duration of that field/course/certificate.

The Freeship card will contain the following information about the student

• Name of the student
• Students ID on the portal
• Father’s Name
• Aadjhaar Card Number
• Caste
• Date of Birth
• Annual Family Income
• Domicile State
• Address of the student
• Course (In which admission is sought)
• Duration of course
• Class (Presently studying)
• Class (Last attended)

Payment Process

The amount of scholarship (tuition fees, academic allowances, and any other allowance) will be deposited/ transferred into the bank accounts of students through DBT (Direct Bank Transfers) preferably through Aadhaar Based Payment System (Aadhaar Payment Bridge)

References

Circular No. 1 | 14011/04/2019-SCD-V(Part-I) | Dated 13-03-2021