Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu)

What is the Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu?

Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment that is awarded inside the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu by the Directorate of Education and its three District Education Offices at Silvassa, Daman and Diu. The scheme guidelines hosted for the UT on the National Scholarships Portal are the revised guidelines effective from September 2018, and they set the eligibility, the money and the process described on this page.

The stated objective is narrow and clear: to provide financial assistance to OBC students studying at the post-matriculation or post-secondary stage so they can complete their education. The scholarship is awarded by the government of the State or Union Territory to which the applicant actually belongs, that is, where the student is permanently settled, and it is tenable only for studies inside India. A student from Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu studying in Gujarat or Maharashtra therefore applies to the UT Administration, not to the state where the college stands.

Two things make this scholarship different from a simple stipend. First, it pays both a monthly maintenance allowance and a reimbursement of every compulsory non-refundable fee the institution charges. Second, it is a funds-limited scheme by design, so being eligible is not the same as being sanctioned.

Who is eligible for the OBC Post-Matric Scholarship?

You can receive this scholarship if:

• You are an Indian national belonging to a community notified as OBC by the Central Government, a State Government or the UT Administration.
• You are permanently settled in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and belong to an OBC community as specified in relation to this UT.
• You have passed Matriculation or Higher Secondary, or a higher examination of a recognised University or Board of Secondary Education.
• You are studying a recognised post-matriculation or post-secondary course in a recognised institution.
• Your parents' or guardian's income from all sources does not exceed the prescribed ceiling, Rs 1.50 lakh per annum in the guidelines document, a figure that later National Scholarships Portal listings show revised upward to Rs 2.50 lakh. Check the current-year notification.

You are not eligible if:

• You are studying in Class 11 of a Higher Secondary School course or Class 12 of a Multipurpose High School course, because these are treated as a continuous school course rather than a post-matric course. Where the tenth class examination of such a course is treated as equivalent to Matriculation and the student joins another course afterwards, the student does count as post-matric.
• You are repeating a stage of education in a different subject, I.Sc. after I.A., B.Com after B.A., or M.A. in one subject after M.A. in another.
• You have completed an educational career in one professional line and are starting another, for example LLB after B.Tech or B.Ed.
• You are pursuing a post-graduate course in medicine and are permitted to practise during the course.
• You already hold another scholarship or stipend and have not surrendered it.
• You are a third or subsequent boy of the same parents or guardian claiming under this scheme. Girls face no such cap.
• You are receiving a stipend under a pre-examination coaching scheme funded by the Central or State Government, for the duration of that coaching.

Note on income: so long as either parent is alive, or the husband, for a married unemployed girl student, only that person's income counts, not the income of other earning family members. House Rent Allowance exempted for income-tax purposes is excluded from the income computation. An income certificate is taken once only, at admission, for courses that run more than one year.

How much does the OBC Post-Matric Scholarship pay?

Maintenance allowance is graded by course group, and separately for hostellers and day scholars.

Scholars entitled to free boarding or lodging are paid maintenance at one-third of the hosteller rate.

Beyond maintenance, the scholarship covers:

• Fees — enrolment or registration, tuition, games, union, library, magazine and medical examination fees, and every other fee compulsorily payable to the institution or University or Board. Refundable amounts such as caution money and security deposit are excluded.
• Reader charges for blind scholars; Rs 175 a month for Groups A and B, Rs 130 for Group C and Rs 90 for Group D.
• Study tour charges; up to Rs 900 a year, limited to actual transport expenditure, for students in professional and technical courses, and only if the Head of the Institution certifies the tour is essential.
• Thesis typing or printing charges: up to Rs 1,000 for research scholars, on the recommendation of the Head of the Institution.
• Book allowance, Rs 900 a year for students pursuing correspondence, distance or continuing education courses, who are otherwise eligible for reimbursement of non-refundable fees.

Maintenance is payable from 1 April, or from the month of admission if that is later, up to the month in which the annual examination ends, holidays included. If admission is secured after the 20th of a month, payment starts from the following month.

How to apply for the OBC Post-Matric Scholarship

1. Watch for the annual advertisement. The guidelines require every State and UT Administration to announce the scheme in May-June through leading newspapers and other media, and to fix a last date for receipt of applications. The UT Administration of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu issues this notice through the Directorate of Education.
2. Complete One Time Registration (OTR) on the National Scholarships Portal at scholarships.gov.in. OTR is now a prerequisite before any scholarship application can be filed.
3. Fill the application on the portal, selecting Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu as your State or UT of domicile and the Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students as the scheme.
4. Upload the documents: OBC caste certificate signed by an officer not below Tehsildar rank, income declaration with affidavit, marksheets and certificates of all examinations passed, a signed passport photograph, your bonafide certificate, and your Aadhaar-seeded bank passbook.
5. Submit and note the application ID, then have the application verified by the Head of your Institution. The guidelines are explicit that a complete application must be routed through the institution being attended or last attended.
6. Second-level verification is done by the District Education Office of your district, which forwards sanctioned cases to the Directorate of Education.

How to apply offline through the District Education Office

1. Obtain the prescribed application form, separate forms exist for fresh and renewal scholarships: from your institution or the District Education Office.
2. Attach one attested copy of each examination certificate, the original OBC caste certificate, the parental income declaration with affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper, a signed passport photograph, and, for renewal cases, the previous year's scholarship receipt countersigned by the Head of the Institution.
3. Submit the completed application through the Head of the Institution, who forwards it to the officer specified by the UT Administration before the last date notified.

District Education Office addresses recorded on UT Administration scholarship paperwork are: Secretariat, Silvassa, PIN 396230 (phone 0260-2642098, doe-dnh@nic.in); Fort Area, Moti Daman, PIN 396220 (phone 0260-2231126, diredu-dd@nic.in); and Collectorate, Old Girls' High School campus, Diu, PIN 362520 (phone 02875-252199).

How is the money paid and how do I check status?

Payment is made by the UT Administration directly to the student's own bank or post office account. The guidelines instruct States and UTs to avoid cash payment altogether, to follow DBT mode, and to ensure disbursement through Aadhaar-seeded accounts. A mismatch between the name on Aadhaar and the name on the bank account is therefore one of the commonest reasons a sanctioned payment fails.

Track your case with the application ID on the "Check Your Status" option of scholarships.gov.in. The status will show whether the application is pending at institute level, at District Education Office level, or has been sanctioned. If it has been stuck at institute level for weeks, the fix lies with your college office, not with the portal.

Why do OBC Post-Matric Scholarship applications get rejected?

• Caste certificate not signed by a competent officer. It must be issued in original by a Revenue Officer not below the rank of Tehsildar.
• Income declaration incomplete; missing the employer certification or the affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper.
• Course not eligible; Class 11 of a Higher Secondary School course, or a second degree in the same stage of education.
• Already holding another scholarship or stipend, which the scheme forbids.
• Third boy child of the same parents already sanctioned under the scheme.
• Institution verification not completed before the last date.
• Funds exhausted. Central assistance must first cover renewal cases, so fresh applicants can be left out even when fully eligible. Preference in disbursement runs Government institutions first, then Government-aided, then unaided private institutions.

Renewal, and when the award stops

An award once made is tenable to the completion of the course, subject to good conduct and regular attendance, and is renewed year to year as the scholar is promoted. A Group A scholar who fails an examination for the first time may still have the award renewed; from the second failure onwards the student bears their own expenses until promoted. A scholar who cannot sit the annual examination because of illness or another unforeseeable event may have the award renewed on producing a medical certificate and the Head of the Institution's certification that the scholar would have passed.

Scholarship is not paid for the period of internship or housemanship in MBBS, or for practical training in another course, where the student receives any remuneration, stipend or allowance during that period.

Help and grievance redressal

• National Scholarships Portal helpdesk: 0120-6619540
• District Education Office, Silvassa: 0260-2642098, doe-dnh@nic.in
• District Education Office, Daman: 0260-2231126, diredu-dd@nic.in
• District Education Office, Diu: 02875-252199

Applying is free. No fee is payable to any agent or facilitator for filing a National Scholarships Portal application, and no officer will ask for your OTP or your bank password.