Important Scholarships for Disabled Students in 2018, List of Central Sector Scholarships

Talent can be manifested through a number of ways. It is not the only repository of the normal students. The handicapped students are also gifted is some way. Thus, they are referred as the ‘differently–abled’ students who can perform better in some ways as compared to the other group of students.

The Government of India runs various central sector scholarship schemes to provide scholarships to the handicapped or differently-abled students. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment implements numbers of scholarship programmes for the students with a disability.

Here is a list of central government scholarship 2018 for the disabled students –

Pre-Matric Scholarships Scheme –

Aim of the scholarship – The Pre –Matric scholarship aims at providing financial support to disabled students, so that they can pursue their studies after Class 9th and Class 10th onwards. The aim of this scholarship is to arrest the dropout-rates among disabled students after Class 9th onwards.  

Benefits of the Scholarship –

• Those students who are selected for this scholarship get a stipend on the monthly basis for 10 months in a year. Here are the rates of the scholarship –

• Hostellers – ₹ 600
• Day-scholars – ₹ 350

• Students also receive an additional amount of ₹ 1000 for purchasing books and additional materials.
• The applicants are also eligible for the additional allowances of ₹ 160 for Reader Allowance/ Helper Allowance/ Coaching Allowance or Transport Allowance

Eligibility for the Scholarship –

• The applicant should be suffering from disability up to 40%. Those students with less than 40% disability are not eligible for the scholarship.
• The applicant should be studying in Class 9th or Class 10th in any government recognised school or government-aided school.
• The annual family income of the applicant should not exceed ₹2.00 lakhs per annum.
• The benefits of this scholarship can be availed by maximum two students in a family.

Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme –

Aim of the scholarship – The Post-Matric scholarship is given to such disabled students who have completed their Higher Secondary qualification and have secured admission in the Bachelors or the Masters courses. The aim of this scholarship is to extend financial support to the meritorious handicapped students to complete their education and get a job.  

Benefits of the Scholarship –

Those students who are selected for the scholarship get a monthly allowance, additional allowance, book allowances, and reimbursement of the non-refundable fee. The rates of the scholarship for various courses are as follows –

• The beneficiary students also receive additional allowances. The blind students and mentally challenged students get Reader Allowance and Coaching Allowance of ₹ 240 on the monthly basis.
• Other students receive Transport Allowance/ Escort Allowance and Special Allowance of ₹ 160 to aid them in pursuing their studies.
• The additional expenses of students incurred during the process of admission also get reimbursed. The reimbursement amount is ₹ 1.50 lakhs.

Eligibility for the Scholarship –

• The applicant should have completed Class 12th and should have taken admission in the Bachelor’s or Master’s course.
• The annual family income of the applicant should not exceed ₹ 2.50 lakhs.
• Once granted the scholarship is given to students till the completion of the course.
• To continue to receive the scholarship, the student should have a regular attendance and good conduct at the institution/ college.
• He/ she should score good marks to continue the scholarship.

Scholarship for Top Class Education for Students with Disabilities –

Aim of the scholarship – The ‘Top Class Education’ scholarship extends full financial support to the disabled students to pursue studies at the Post graduation level. The aim of the scholarship is to increase the enrollment of the disabled students for the higher level studies.

Benefits of the Scholarship –

• Those students who are selected for this scholarship receive the following benefits –
• Tuition-fee reimbursement up to 2 lakhs per annum
• Maintenance allowance of ₹ 3000 on the monthly basis for Hostellers
• Maintenance allowance of ₹ 1500 on the monthly basis for Day- Scholars
• They are encouraged to adopt technology in their lives. Thus, they get ₹ 30,000 exclusively to purchase a Computer.
• They are also given financial support up to ₹ 30,000 to buy accessories/ any kind of equipment/ software related to their disability.
• Students are allocated ₹ 5000 annually to buy books and other materials related to their studies.
• In addition, disabled students also get an allowance of ₹ 2000 on the monthly basis to avail Reader assistance, Escort assistance, Helper assistance etc.

 Eligibility for the Scholarship –

• The applicant should be affected by at least 40% of the disability.
• The annual family income should not be more than ₹ 6.00 lakhs.
• Maximum 2 children of a family can avail benefits under this scholarship.
• This scholarship is given for one time only. In case, a student pursues some other course for the second time, he/ she will not be eligible for this scholarship for the second time.
• The applicant should not be receiving benefits under any other government schemes.

National Fellowship for students with disabilities –

Aim of the scholarship – The National Fellowship scholarship scheme is also referred as the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship programme. It is a central government scholarship scheme which was started in the financial year 2012 – 2013. The scholarship aims at encouraging disabled students to pursue higher education like M. Phil or Ph. D.  

Benefits of the Scholarship –

• Those students who are selected for this scholarship receive following benefits under this scholarship –
• Amount of the fellowship for the initial 2 years as JRF – ₹ 16,000
• Amount of the fellowship for the rest of the 3 years as SRF- ₹ 18, 000.
• The students also get an additional allowance of ₹2000 on the monthly basis for the Reader/Escort assistance. 
• In addition, students also receive ‘Contingency Grants’ annually.

For students of Humanities, Social Science, and Commerce the ‘Contingency Grants’ are -

• For the initial 2 years, they receive ₹ 10,000
• For rest of the 3 years, they get ₹ 20, 500.

For students of Science, Engineering, and Technology the ‘Contingency Grants’ are as follows –

• For the initial 2 years – ₹ 12,000.
• For rest of the 3 years – ₹ 25,000.

Eligibility for the Scholarship –

• The applicant should have secured admission in the M. Phil/ Ph. D programme in any recognized university or college.
• He/ she should be affected by at least 40% of the disability.
• The student’s performance will be assessed by a committee annually and on the basis of the report, the fellowship will be continued. 

‘Saksham’ Scholarship for Differently-Abled Students  -

Aim of the Scholarship – The Ministry of Human Resource Development gives ‘Saksham’scholarship to differently-abled students. The aim of the scholarship is to encourage students for pursuing professional education. This scholarship is implemented by the AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education).

Benefits of the Scholarship –

• The students get tuition fee up to ₹ 30,000.
• They also get ₹ 2000 on the monthly basis for 10 months.
• Students also get ₹ 30,000 annually to purchase books, and other materials related to their studies.

Eligibility for the Scholarship –

• The applicant should have secured admission in any technical course of an AICTE recognised college/university.
• The student should be affected by at least 40% of the disability.
• The annual family income of the applicant should not exceed ₹ 8.00 lakhs.
• Reservation Principles are followed while allocating scholarships to students.

• OBC – 27%
• SC- 15%
• ST – 7.5%

National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation –

Aim of the scholarship – The National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation gives 2,500 scholarships to disabled students. The aim of the scholarship is to provide financial assistance to disabled students so that they can pursue technical or higher education with dignity.

Benefits of the Scholarship –

Those students who are selected for this scholarship get financial assistance on the monthly basis and an additional lump-sum amount to buy materials related to their studies.

To pursue studies at the Graduation level students receive following benefits –

• They get ₹ 2,500 on the monthly basis till the completion of their course.
• They get ₹ 6000 on the annual basis to buy additional books and materials.

To pursue professional studies at the Post-graduation level students receive following benefits –

• They get ₹ 3000 on the monthly basis till the completion of their course.
• They get ₹ 10,000 on the annual basis to buy additional books and materials.

Eligibility for the Scholarship –

• The applicant should be affected by at least 40% of the disability.
• The student should have secured admission in any professional/technical course.
• A student should have a minimum aggregate of 50% marks at the higher secondary or graduation level to avail this scholarship. Female students should have a minimum aggregate of 40% marks to become eligible for this scholarship.

Those students who have secured admission by qualifying a competitive examination are not required to have any minimum aggregate score at the higher secondary or the graduation level.