Pragyan Bharati Scooty Scheme, Assam

What is the Pragyan Bharati Scooty Scheme?

Pragyan Bharati Scooty Scheme is a higher education incentive run by the Directorate of Higher Education, Government of Assam, under the state's Pragyan Bharati (locally, Pragyan Bharati Achoni) umbrella of education programmes. The scheme gives a free scooty to girl students who cleared the Higher Secondary examination with 60% or more and have gone on to enrol in a degree course in a college in Assam.

The scheme's stated purpose is transport, not reward. A large share of girl students in Assam drop out between Class 12 and graduation because the nearest degree college is too far to reach daily, and the family will not pay for a hostel or a daily bus fare for a daughter. A two-wheeler removes that specific obstacle. The Assam government also bears the registration and insurance expenses for the vehicle and supplies a helmet free of cost, so the family is not left with a bill it did not expect.

The scheme has been running since 2016 and has distributed scooties in successive annual batches, with the eligibility percentage, the covered categories of institutions and the income ceiling revised from cycle to cycle. That is the single most important thing a reader should take away: the fine print changes every year, and the operative document is the advertisement the Directorate of Higher Education publishes after each Higher Secondary result.

Main features

• A free scooty for selected girl students, delivered as a vehicle.
• Registration and insurance costs borne by the Government of Assam.
• A free helmet with the vehicle.
• Online-only application, with no fee.
• Selection on merit within the eligible pool, district-wise and stream-wise as notified.

Who is eligible for the Pragyan Bharati Scooty Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a girl student. The scooty component is reserved for female candidates.
• You are a permanent resident of Assam and can produce a Permanent Resident Certificate or equivalent.
• You passed the Higher Secondary (Class 12) examination with 60% or more in aggregate, in the qualifying year named in the advertisement.
• You have taken admission to a degree course in a college in Assam for the current academic session, and can produce an admission receipt or bonafide certificate.
• Your family's annual income is within the ceiling notified for the cycle. Assam has applied an income test of the order of Rs 2 lakh a year in recent cycles; the exact figure is restated in each year's advertisement and should be read there.
• You studied in a category of institution covered by that year's notice: government and provincialised institutions have been the core group.

You cannot apply if:

• You are a male student. Boys are not eligible for the scooty.
• Your Higher Secondary aggregate is below 60%.
• You have not enrolled in a degree course, or your admission is to a college outside Assam.
• Your family income exceeds the ceiling in the current advertisement.
• You already received a scooty under this scheme in an earlier cycle. The benefit is one per student, and duplicate claims are removed at de-duplication.
• You are applying for a diploma, certificate or non-degree course where the advertisement limits the benefit to degree-level enrolment.
• You passed Higher Secondary in an earlier year than the one named in the current advertisement. Each cycle is tied to a specific examination year.

Clearing 60% makes you eligible, not selected. Where the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of scooties sanctioned, the Directorate prepares a merit list, so the practical cut-off in a given district or stream can be substantially higher than 60%.

What documents are required?

Scan every document as a clear, readable file within the size limit stated on the portal. A blurred marksheet is treated as a missing marksheet at verification, and there is usually no second chance to upload after the window closes.

How to apply for the Pragyan Bharati Scooty Scheme online

1. Wait for the advertisement. After the Higher Secondary results are declared, the Directorate of Higher Education publishes the scooty scheme notice on directorateofhighereducation.assam.gov.in, with the eligibility conditions, the number of seats and the opening and closing dates. In the 2026 cycle the window ran from 29 July 2026 to 21 August 2026.
2. Take admission to a degree course first. You need an admission receipt or bonafide certificate from your college before you can complete the form, so finish your college admission before the scooty window closes.
3. Collect the certificates that take time. The Permanent Resident Certificate and the income certificate are issued by the Circle Officer and can take days or weeks. Start these the moment your results are out, not on the last day of the application window.
4. Register on the application portal linked from the Directorate of Higher Education website, using a working mobile number and email address that you control. Verify with the OTP sent to that number.
5. Fill the application form; personal details, HSLC and HS roll numbers and marks, board, college name and course, district, family income and bank details where asked. Enter your name exactly as it appears on the Higher Secondary marksheet.
6. Upload the scanned documents and photograph in the formats and sizes the portal specifies.
7. Review every field before submitting. Most portals of this kind do not allow an edit after final submission, and a wrong roll number or percentage is fatal to the application.
8. Submit and download the acknowledgement carrying your application number. Print a copy and keep it. It is what you quote in any follow-up.
9. Track the selection list on the same website. Selected students are called to a district-level distribution event with their original documents.

Applications are free. Offline applications are not accepted. No agent, cyber cafe operator or "consultant" can get your name added to the list, and no official will ask you for money or for an OTP.

How is the scooty actually handed over?

Once the merit list is published, selected students are called to a distribution programme, usually organised district-wise and often attended by ministers or the local MLA. Students carry their original marksheet, admission receipt, residence certificate, income certificate and Aadhaar card for verification at the venue before the vehicle is handed over.

Because the Government of Assam bears the registration and insurance, the student does not pay road tax or the first-year insurance premium out of pocket. A helmet is supplied free. What the state does not cover is running cost; fuel, servicing and subsequent years' insurance renewal are the student's responsibility, and a family should budget for that before accepting the vehicle. A valid driving licence is the rider's own obligation under the Motor Vehicles Act; the scheme does not exempt anyone from it.

How to check your application status and the selection list

1. Open directorateofhighereducation.assam.gov.in and go to the scooty scheme notice for the current cycle.
2. Use the application status or login link on the application portal and enter your application number and registered mobile number.
3. When the selection list is published, download the PDF and search it for your application number rather than your name, names repeat, application numbers do not.
4. If you are selected, watch for the district distribution notice and the date on which you must appear with originals.

Why scooty applications get rejected

• Aggregate below 60% in the Higher Secondary examination.
• No confirmed college admission at the time of verification.
• Family income above the notified ceiling, or an income certificate issued by an authority the notice does not recognise.
• Name or date of birth mismatch between the Higher Secondary marksheet, Aadhaar and the residence certificate. This is the most common avoidable rejection — get the records reconciled before you apply.
• Illegible or wrongly sized uploads, especially the marksheet.
• Applying after the closing date. The portal shuts at the stated time and late applications are not entertained in any form.
• Duplicate application, where the same student submits twice with different details.
• Institution category not covered by that year's advertisement.

Where a rejection is factually wrong, for example the portal read your percentage incorrectly, the route is to write to the Directorate of Higher Education, Kahilipara, Guwahati, quoting your application number, and to route a copy through your college principal, who can certify your marks and admission.

Where to get help

• Directorate of Higher Education, Assam, directorateofhighereducation.assam.gov.in, which publishes the advertisement, the application link and the selection list.
• Your college principal or the scholarship in-charge, who handles bonafide certificates and forwards student grievances to the Directorate.
• Circle Officer of your revenue circle, for the Permanent Resident Certificate and the income certificate.
• Sewa Setu, sewasetu.assam.gov.in, the Assam government's citizen service portal, for tracking certificate applications that feed into this scheme.

Pragyan Bharati Scooty Scheme is one of the few Assam schemes where being prepared in advance matters more than anything else. The percentage is fixed by your Higher Secondary result and cannot be changed, but the two things that actually knock out most eligible girls. A missing income or residence certificate, and an unconfirmed college admission, are entirely within a family's control if they start in the week the results come out.