Scheme of National Scholarships for Persons with Disabilities

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, offers Scheme of National Scholarships for Persons with Disabilities Objective Financial assistance is provided for pursuing higher and technical education for students with disabilities. Awards Upto five hundred awards are to be given annually through institutions in which students are pursuing studies/courses. Scholarship will be given to different categories of disabled students as under: 1. Students with orthopedic disability 2. Students with blindness or low vision 3. Students with hearing disability 4. Students with Cerebral palsy, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, Profound or Severe Hearing Impairment Amount of scholarship will vary among courses and will also depend on availability of hostel/residential facility with the institution. The details are given below. S. No Courses of Study Hostellers (Rs/Month) Day scholars (Rs/Month) 1 PhD / M. Phil. and post graduate /graduate level courses in Engineering / Indian and other systems of medicine /Agriculture / Veterinary / IT / Biotechnology, Education Management / Architecture, Physiotherapy, Music and other professional courses 1000 700 2 Diploma and certificate level professional courses 700 400 3 In respect of students with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, multiple disabilities and profound or severe hearing impairment, for pursuing general / professional / technical / vocational courses after class VIII 700 400 The students will also be reimbursed the course fee subject to a ceiling of Rs.10, 000 /-per year. Besides students living in the hostel /residential facility provided by the institutions, those students will also be considered as hostellers who live in accommodation hired at least by a group of 3 students living together with common mess arrangement. Such students will have to furnish a certificate in this regard countersigned by the head of the institution and a certificate from the owner of the house in case of own arrangement or accommodation taken on rent. Eligibility 1. Financial assistance will be available to Indian students with at least 40% disabilities certified as per definition under Persons with Disabilities Act 1995. 2. Financial assistance will be given for pursuing post-Matric/Post-Secondary technical and professional courses including PhD & M.Phil. from recognized institutions. However, for students with disabilities of Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, and Profound or Severe Hearing Impaired, the minimum educational qualification will be class VIII pass and scholarship will be awarded to them for pursuing general, technical, vocational or professional courses. 3. Scholarship will be awarded to one student for pursuing only one course. 4. Financial assistance can be given for computer with editing software for blind / deaf graduate and postgraduate students pursuing professional courses and for support access software for cerebral palsied students. 5. Continuation / renewal of the award for next year will depend on successfully completing the course in the preceding year with minimum 50 (fifty) percent marks. 6. The Assistance under this Scheme is not intended for Post-Matric/Post Secondary Technical / Professional courses having duration of less than one year. 7. A scholarship holder under this scheme will not concurrently hold any other scholarship / stipend. If already any other scholarship / stipend awarded, the student is required to exercise his / her option for choosing the scholarship that he / she proposes to avail and inform awarding authority about the same. 8. Monthly family income of the beneficiary should not be more than Rs. 15,000/- from all sources. Family income includes income of the parent / guardian. Announcement of the Scheme Advertisements inviting applications for scholarships are given in leading national / regional newspapers in the month of June For more details, please visit: http://www.socialjustice.nic.in/nsawardadv0809.php