Six central scholarships, run by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, support students with disabilities from Class 9 to PhD, plus overseas study and entrance coaching. All six are applied on the National Scholarship Portal at scholarships.gov.in, free, with the same UDID card and income certificate. Here is who qualifies, how much you get, and how to apply.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice runs six scholarships to make sure disability is never the reason a student drops out. They are open to any Indian student with a disability certificate, regardless of state, and applied on the central National Scholarship Portal.
Together they cover school (Class 9 and 10), college and post-graduation (Class 11 onwards), elite institutions (IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, NLUs and similar), overseas Masters and PhD, doctoral fellowship in India, and free coaching for competitive exams.
Each is a separate scheme, but most students apply to just one based on the stage they are at.
You qualify if all of these are true. Income limits and class limits vary by scheme.
Amounts vary by scheme and course. A few useful anchors.
Pre-matric: Rs 500 a month maintenance plus Rs 1,000 a year for books, and reader allowance for visually impaired students. Hostellers receive a small additional allowance.
Post-matric: Rs 660 to Rs 1,200 a month maintenance based on the course group, full tuition reimbursement up to the institutions actual fee, plus book and disability allowances.
Top Class: covers the entire tuition fee at the recognised premier institute, plus a maintenance allowance of Rs 3,000 a month for hostellers and a book grant. Annual family income cap is Rs 6 lakh.
National Overseas: tuition fee at the overseas university (capped), maintenance, return airfare and contingency for a Masters or PhD abroad in a recognised field.
National Fellowship: JRF / SRF rate fellowship for MPhil and PhD scholars in any recognised Indian university.
Free Coaching: coaching fee paid directly to empanelled institutes, plus a monthly stipend for the duration.
Keep these ready before you sit down to apply. Use clear colour scans.
Open scholarships.gov.in and click on Student Login then New Registration. Enter your name, date of birth, mobile number, bank account and Aadhaar. You get a temporary ID for application this year.
The portal sends an OTP to your Aadhaar linked mobile. After OTP confirmation, your registration is active.
Choose the scheme that fits your stage. Pre-matric for Class 9 to 10, Post-matric for Class 11 onwards, Top Class for premier institutes. Do not apply to two schemes for the same purpose, the system rejects duplicates.
Enter institution details, course, fees, family income, disability percentage. Mention the UDID number exactly as on the card. Wrong UDID is the most common rejection reason.
Upload the certificate, mark sheet, income certificate, Aadhaar, bank passbook and bonafide certificate. Each file under 2 MB, clear scans.
After submission your application moves to your school or college for verification, then to the institute or district level, then to the ministry. Track status on the same portal using your application ID. Approved amount is credited by DBT in 8 to 16 weeks.
All six scholarships are applied on the same National Scholarship Portal, free.
There is no application fee. Beware of agents who claim to fast track your scholarship. Our team can review your form before you submit, free of charge.
Go to scholarships.gov.inNo, only one. The portal blocks duplicate applications for the same study stage. Pick the scheme that fits your class and institution.
The portal usually opens in July or August and closes in October or November for the academic year. Dates are announced on scholarships.gov.in each year. Apply in the first two weeks to avoid last minute portal load.
No, the minimum for all six schemes is 40 percent. If your percentage is close, request a reassessment from the PwD dashboard before you apply.
For pre-matric, post-matric and most schemes the cap is Rs 2.5 lakh per year, so Rs 3 lakh would not qualify. Top Class has a higher cap of Rs 6 lakh, so check there if you are at a premier institute.
Yes. Each academic year is a fresh application called Renewal for continuing students. The renewal is simpler, most of your data carries over, you only update the marksheet and the institutions bonafide.
Ask anything about this scheme. We answer common questions here, and others who have applied share what helped. Your email and phone are never shown publicly and are used only to reply or send updates you ask for, never for spam.
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