Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students (Chandigarh)

What is the Post-Matric Scholarship for SC students in Chandigarh?

Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste students, usually written as PMS-SC, is a centrally sponsored scholarship of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, implemented in the Union Territory by the Chandigarh Administration. The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment sets out the objective in one sentence: to "appreciably increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio of SC students in higher education with a focus on those from the poorest households, by providing financial assistance at post-matriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education."

Two facts from the scheme's own guidelines shape everything an applicant in Chandigarh needs to do:

• The scholarships are available for studies in India only.
• Awardees are selected by the State Government or Union Territory to which the applicant actually belongs, that is, the state or UT in which the student is permanently settled or domiciled, as per the terms of domicile decided by that state.

That second line is why a Chandigarh student applies against the Chandigarh allocation and needs Chandigarh domicile or residence papers, even if the college is in another city. The current guidelines are the version revised in March 2021, applicable with effect from 2020-21, and the department confirms the scheme applies both to students who are already beneficiaries and to fresh admissions.

In Chandigarh, welfare of the Scheduled Castes is the responsibility of the Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Chandigarh Administration, which describes itself as running welfare schemes, programmes and institutions for Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, persons with disabilities, women, children and other vulnerable sections. The UT also runs the Chandigarh Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Minorities Finance and Development Corporation from the same office at Sector 17-C, which handles loan and training schemes for the same communities.

Who is eligible for the Chandigarh SC post-matric scholarship?

You can apply if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste and hold a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You are studying at the post-matriculation or post-secondary stage, that is any recognised course after Class 10 to Class 11 and 12, ITI and diploma courses, graduation, post-graduation and professional courses.
• You are domiciled in or permanently settled in Chandigarh, since awardees are selected by the state or UT to which the applicant actually belongs.
• You are studying in India. The scheme covers studies in India only.
• Your institution is registered on the National Scholarship Portal, so it can verify your application.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not belong to a Scheduled Caste. Students of Other Backward Classes, minorities or the general category must look at the separate scholarship schemes meant for them.
• You are studying outside India.
• You are not domiciled in Chandigarh. Apply instead against the state where you are permanently settled; applying against the wrong state is a common reason applications are rejected at verification.
• You are still in Class 10 or below. Pre-matric scholarships are a separate scheme.
• Your institution is not registered on NSP, in which case your application cannot be verified and will lapse. Ask the institution to complete its NSP registration and KYC.

How much does the scholarship pay?

The scheme provides two kinds of support at the post-matriculation stage: reimbursement of compulsory non-refundable fees charged by the institution, and an academic allowance for maintenance. The slab structure varies by course group and by whether the student is a hosteller or a day scholar.

The exact rates and the parental income ceiling applicable to a given session are notified year by year. The honest advice is to read the current-year notification on the National Scholarship Portal and the guidelines page of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, rather than trusting the figures that circulate on private scholarship websites, which are frequently out of date. Payment is made through Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own Aadhaar-seeded bank account, so the money should never pass through a college agent or a middleman.

How to apply for the post-matric scholarship in Chandigarh

1. Get your three certificates ready first. You need a Scheduled Caste certificate, an income certificate and a residence or domicile certificate of Chandigarh. Chandigarh issues income and residence/domicile certificates online through the e-District portal at chdservices.gov.in, where the published service limit is 30 days for an income certificate and 45 days for a residence or domicile certificate. Start these well before the scholarship window.
2. Complete the One Time Registration (OTR) on NSP. Open scholarships.gov.in, go to the Students section, and use Apply For One Time Registration (OTR). There is also an NSP OTR app linked from the portal.
3. Seed your bank account with Aadhaar. NSP carries a Check Aadhaar Seeding Status link and a guide on how to seed Aadhaar with the bank account. An unseeded account is the most common reason a sanctioned scholarship never arrives.
4. Apply for the scholarship. Use Apply For Scholarship, choose the current academic year — the portal currently shows 2026-27; select the Post-Matric Scholarship for SC students, and pick Chandigarh as your state or UT of domicile.
5. Fill the form and upload documents. Caste certificate, income certificate, domicile or residence certificate, previous year's mark sheet, admission and fee receipt, Aadhaar and bank details.
6. Submit and then chase your institution. Your application is not complete until the institution verifies it on NSP and forwards it. Confirm with the scholarship clerk that the verification has been done before the institute-level deadline.
7. Track your application. Use Application Status and Track Your Payment on NSP. Renew the scholarship the following year through the same login rather than making a fresh application.

Applying is free. No college, agent or cyber cafe is authorised to charge a commission for "getting the scholarship sanctioned", and no official will ask for your Aadhaar OTP or your bank password.

Why post-matric scholarship applications fail, and how to fix them

• The institution never verified the application. An application that sits unverified at the institute level is effectively not an application. Follow up in person and get the verification date noted.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded. Take the passbook to the branch and ask for Aadhaar seeding through NPCI mapping, then re-check on NSP's Aadhaar seeding status link.
• Name mismatch. The name on Aadhaar, the bank account, the caste certificate and the college record must match. Correct the weakest of them before the next cycle.
• Wrong state selected. Selecting a state other than Chandigarh when you are domiciled in Chandigarh sends the application to the wrong verification queue.
• Expired or invalid income certificate. Income certificates carry validity limits; apply for a fresh one on chdservices.gov.in in good time.
• Institution not registered on NSP. Ask the institution to complete its NSP registration and KYC; the portal publishes an institute registration manual and KYC user manual for exactly this.
• Duplicate applications. One student, one application per year. Filing twice usually gets both flagged.

Key facts

• Guidelines in force are the PMS-SC guidelines revised in March 2021, effective from 2020-21.
• The scheme covers studies in India only.
• Awardees are selected by the State or UT of domicile, so Chandigarh students apply against Chandigarh.
• Applications are made on the National Scholarship Portal, currently open for academic year 2026-27.
• The scheme covers both existing beneficiaries and fresh admissions.

Help and grievance redressal

• Department of Social Justice and Empowerment toll free: 1800-202-1989.
• National helpline: 14566.
• Chandigarh Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development: 0172-2700372, Additional Town Hall Building, 3rd Floor, Sector 17-C, Chandigarh 160017, email dirswd-chd[at]nic[dot]in.
• Chandigarh Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Minorities Finance and Development Corporation: reachable on 0172-2700372 at the same address, for the UT's other SC-focused loan, training and cash award schemes.
• NSP grievances: the National Scholarship Portal publishes a grievance redressal officer list and an FAQ for District and State Nodal Officers, and every application carries a status trail you can quote when complaining.
• Chandigarh e-District: chdservices.gov.in, for the income, residence and domicile certificates the application depends on, with an Application Status and Verify Certificate facility.