A Scheme to Provide Free Tablets to Std.12th Pass Students

What is the free tablet scheme for Std. 12 pass students in Gujarat?

A Scheme to Provide Free Tablets to Std.12th Pass Students is run by the Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat. The scheme sits alongside the state's well-known tablet distribution programme, under which a student who has passed Std. 12 and joined a degree course receives a tablet after depositing a token amount of Rs 1,000.

According to the scheme description published on the national myScheme portal and in the Gujarat government's "Mari Yojana" scheme compendium, the Tribal Development Department reimburses that Rs 1,000 token amount to Scheduled Tribe students. The tablet hardware itself is issued through the Education Department; this scheme's job is to make sure an ST student does not carry even the token cost.

The effect is simple. A Scheduled Tribe student who has cleared the Higher Secondary Certificate examination and taken admission in the first year of a graduate course pays Rs 1,000, collects the tablet, then claims the Rs 1,000 back online. For a first-generation college student in a tribal taluka, that is the difference between owning a study device and not owning one.

Key features

• Benefit amount: Rs 1,000, paid once, per eligible student.
• Nature of benefit: reimbursement credited to the student's own bank account.
• Category: restricted to Scheduled Tribe students of Gujarat.
• Income test: none. Family income is not a criterion.
• Application: online only, through the Digital Gujarat portal.
• Application fee: nil.

One point of confusion worth clearing up. The one-line benefit summary circulating on aggregator sites describes the beneficiaries as Scheduled Caste students. The scheme's own detailed description, its eligibility list and its nodal department all say Scheduled Tribe, and the nodal department is the Tribal Development Department. Read this guide as an ST scheme. Scheduled Caste students should look instead at the Director of Scheduled Caste Welfare schemes on the same Digital Gujarat portal.

Who is eligible for the tablet reimbursement scheme?

You can apply if all of the following are true:

• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You belong to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category and hold a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You have passed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC / Std. 12) examination.
• You have taken admission to the first year of a graduate-level course in a recognised university or an affiliated college.
• You have a bank account in your own name to receive the Rs 1,000.

You cannot apply if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Caste, SEBC, OBC or general category. Only ST students are covered by this particular scheme.
• You are a resident of another state, even if you are studying in Gujarat.
• You have not yet passed Std. 12, or you have passed but have not taken admission to the first year of a degree course.
• You are enrolled in an institution that is not recognised by a university or the competent state authority.
• You have already claimed the same Rs 1,000 reimbursement once. The benefit is a one-time payment per student.

There is no family income ceiling. A student is not disqualified because a parent earns above any threshold, which distinguishes this scheme from most Gujarat scholarship schemes.

What documents are required?

Scan every document as a clear, readable file before you start. The Digital Gujarat form does not save partially uploaded attachments well, and a blurred caste certificate is the single commonest cause of a query being raised on an otherwise valid application.

How to apply for the tablet reimbursement online

1. Open the Digital Gujarat portal at digitalgujarat.gov.in.
2. Click Register on the home page. Enter your mobile number, email address and a password, then click Save.
3. Log in with the user name you just created (your mobile number or email) and your password.
4. Open My Profile and fill in every mandatory field, then click Update Profile. Enter the OTP sent to your mobile number to confirm the update. The application form will not open until the profile is complete.
5. Under Services, choose Scholarship Services, then select the relevant scheme group for your category.
6. Choose the financial year you are applying for and click Change Financial Year.
7. Select this scheme from the list, read the instructions on screen, and click Continue to Service.
8. Fill the application form in full and upload every required document, including your photograph.
9. Click Save as Draft, tick the terms and conditions, and then submit using Confirm & Final Submit.
10. Note down the application number shown on the acknowledgement screen and print or save a copy.

Note: the portal treats an application as complete only when every section has been filled. A draft that was never finally submitted is not an application and will not be processed. If you are unsure at any step, your school principal or college scholarship clerk is the designated point of help.

How do I check my application status?

1. Log in to digitalgujarat.gov.in with the same user ID and password.
2. Open the scholarship services dashboard and find your application by number.
3. The status line shows whether the application is with the institute, with the verifying officer, sanctioned, or returned with a query.

If the status shows a query or an objection, correct the flagged item and resubmit within the time the portal allows. Applications left with an unanswered query at the end of the academic-year cycle are usually closed rather than kept pending.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix it

• Caste certificate not from a Gujarat competent authority; obtain a fresh ST certificate from the Mamlatdar or the designated issuing officer.
• Bank account not in the student's own name. A parent's or sibling's account will not be accepted for this reimbursement.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the marksheet and the bank passbook: correct the spelling at the source before reapplying.
• No proof of first-year admission — attach the admission letter or the college fee receipt, not just an entrance exam result.
• Duplicate application, only one application per student is accepted. Submitting a second form, whether from the same institute or a different one, can get both applications rejected.
• Incomplete profile on Digital Gujarat, which blocks final submission.

When can I apply?

No fixed statutory last date is published for this scheme. In practice the window follows the academic-year scholarship calendar on the Digital Gujarat portal, which opens after Std. 12 results and college admissions are complete and closes before the financial year ends. Because the portal is organised by financial year, always confirm you have selected the correct year before filling the form. Check the portal announcements after your Std. 12 result rather than waiting for a separate notice.

Where do I complain if nothing happens?

• Tribal Development Department, Government of Gujarat, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar to 079-23252260, 079-23253241.
• Your college or school: the principal is the first-level verifying authority for scholarship applications on Digital Gujarat and can see why an application is stuck.
• District Tribal Development Officer in your district, for verification and sanction delays.

Applying for this scheme is free at every stage. No agent can charge you for "getting the tablet money released", and no official will ask you for an OTP sent to your mobile.