Pre Matric Scholarship For Students With Disabilities
Monthly scholarship up to ₹700 · students with 40%+ disability · Class 9 and 10
This scholarship from the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities supports disabled students in Class 9 or 10 at government or recognized schools, providing monthly maintenance, book grants, and disability-specific allowances. Students with 40% or more disability from families earning below ₹2 lakh per year are eligible. Applications are submitted online at scholarships.gov.in.
About This Scheme
This scholarship from the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities supports disabled students in Class 9 or 10 at government or recognized schools, providing monthly maintenance, book grants, and disability-specific allowances. Students with 40% or more disability from families earning below ₹2 lakh per year are eligible. Applications are submitted online at scholarships.gov.in.
Full official description
A scholarship scheme by DoEPwDs for Students with Disabilities (SwDs) studying in class 9th and class 10th in a government school or a school recognized by the government or CBSE or State Board.
The students with the specified disabilities defined in Schedule of the "Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016" will be eligible under this scheme. This includes persons with visual, hearing, speech, loco-motor, mental retardation, and other disabilities. NOS is implemented offline by the DEPwD.
At times SwDs are deprived of harnessing their latent skills and thereby miss the opportunity. This scheme aims to support SwDs to study further in order to prepare themselves to earn their livelihood and to find a dignified place for themselves in the society as they face several barriers physical, financial, psychological, mental in pursuing studies and living with dignity.
Benefits
- Monthly maintenance allowance: ₹500/month for day scholars; ₹800/month for hostellers (paid for 12 months)
- Annual book grant: ₹1,000
- Disability-specific annual allowances: ₹4,000 for visually impaired and intellectual disabilities; ₹2,000 for hearing impaired, orthopedic, and other disabilities
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Assistive tech founders: disabled students receiving pre-matric scholarships are often the first in their families pursuing formal education — they face severe infrastructure gaps in accessible classrooms, transport, and digital tools, which are all addressable product opportunities.
Who Can Apply (Eligibility)
- Must be a student studying in Class 9 or 10
- Must have a certified disability of 40% or above
- Family income from all sources must not exceed ₹2,00,000 per year
- Cannot hold any other government scholarship at the same time
- Maximum 2 siblings from the same family can benefit (except in case of twins)
- Cannot be the third sibling in a family already receiving this scholarship
Exclusions
- Not available to students in Class 8 or below, or Class 11 and above (covered by Post-Matric scheme)
- A scholarship holder cannot hold any other central government scholarship simultaneously
- Students repeating a class do not receive scholarship for the repeated year
How to Apply
- Go to scholarships.gov.in and register via mobile OTP.
- Log in and select the Pre-Matric Scholarship for Students with Disabilities.
- Fill in all required personal, academic, and disability details.
- Upload the prescribed documents and submit.
- Your school verifies the application online.
- Scholarship is credited directly to your bank account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I eligible for this scholarship if two of my siblings are availing the benefits of this scheme?
No. You won't be eligible in this case.
By when shall the scholarship become payable?
The scholarship will become payable after the student has secured admission and has started attending the classes.
Is there a validity to the scheme benefits?
The benefits are provided till the complete duration of the course.
What would be the mode of payment of the scholarship?
The payment of the scholarship will be through DBT.
What if there are more than one student with equal marks for the last available slot?
In such cases, the percentage of disability will be considered. The candidate with higher percentage of disability will get preference. In case there is still a tie, the age will be considered and the older candidate will get preference.
Will I be eligible for the scholarship if I fail to get promoted to the next semester?
No. The scholarship will be terminated in that case.
Is there a percentage of slots reserved for girl students?
Yes, 50% of the total slots are reserved for girl students.
Can I apply offline for the scholarship?
No. You need to visit https://scholarships.gov.in/ to apply.
Is there any application fee?
No. The entire application process is completely free of cost.
Do I need to complete the application in one sitting?
No. You can save the application as draft and continue at a later time before the deadline.
How do I track the status of my application?
You can check the same anytime by visiting the Applicant Dashboard and clicking "Track Status" in the left pane.
What should be the type and size of the documents to be uploaded?
The format should be.pdf or .jpeg. The size of each document should not be greater than 200 kb.
In what cases a Bonafide Certificate from the institute is needed?
It is needed if the institute is located in a State/UT different from domicile State/UT of the applicant.
How do I know if a field in the application form is mandatory?
The mandatory fields have a red asterisk (*) mark at the end.
Ready to apply?
Visit the official government portal to apply for this scheme.
Apply on myScheme.gov.inDocuments Required
- Aadhaar card
- Disability certificate (40% or above, issued under the RPwD Act 2016)
- Income certificate (family income under ₹2.5 lakh/year)
- Previous year's marksheet
- School enrolment or admission letter
- Bank account details