Financial Assistance to SC Students for Pursuing Higher Studies Abroad (Delhi)

What is the Delhi overseas scholarship for SC students?

Financial Assistance to SC Students for Pursuing Higher Studies Abroad is a state scheme of the Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, Government of NCT of Delhi, run from B-Block, 2nd Floor, Vikas Bhawan, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002. According to the department's own scheme guidelines, the scheme "envisages providing financial assistance to 100 selected candidates for pursuing higher studies abroad through accredited universities at the level of Masters and Ph.D".

The department lists nine scholarship schemes in all, four centrally sponsored and five state schemes. The overseas scholarship is one of the five state schemes, alongside reimbursement of tuition fees for Class I to XII, the merit scholarship for professional and technical courses, the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar State Topper Award and the Mukhyamantri Vidyarthi Pratibha Yojna.

What distinguishes this scheme from the rest is scale. Where the Ambedkar topper award is Rs 25,000 and the merit scholarship tops out at Rs 24,000 a year, the overseas scheme releases Rs 5 lakh a year, up to Rs 20 lakh over a doctorate. It is designed to put Scheduled Caste students from Delhi into accredited foreign universities at a level where fees and living costs are otherwise prohibitive.

Key facts at a glance

• Assistance: Rs 5,00,000 per annum
• Ceiling: Rs 20,00,000 for a PhD, Rs 10,00,000 for a Master's
• Duration: 4 years for a PhD, 2 years for a Master's
• Seats: 100 selected candidates
• Age: below 30 years on the cut-off date
• Income ceiling: Rs 8,00,000 per annum, family income from all sources
• Marks: 55 per cent in the relevant preceding degree

Which fields of study are covered?

The department's guidelines specify five fields:

1. Engineering and Management
2. Pure Sciences and Applied Sciences
3. Agricultural Sciences and Medicine
4. International Commerce, Accounting and Finance
5. Humanities and Social Science

A course that does not sit inside one of these five headings falls outside the scheme, however strong the offer letter.

Who is eligible for the Delhi overseas scholarship?

You can apply if:

• You are a citizen of India and belong to the Scheduled Caste category, with a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You are a domicile of Delhi, or a bonafide resident of Delhi with documentary proof of residence in Delhi for at least the last five years.
• You are below 30 years of age as on the cut-off date of the respective year.
• Your total family income from all sources does not exceed Rs 8,00,000 per annum, certified in the prescribed format by a competent authority of Delhi.
• You hold 55 per cent marks or an equivalent grade in the relevant Bachelor's degree (for a Master's) or in the relevant Master's degree (for a PhD).
• You are the only child of your parents or guardians applying under the scheme, the guidelines allow only one child per set of parents, on self-certification.

You are not eligible if:

• You have already acquired the same level of qualification. A Master's or a PhD: from any university in India or abroad, and are seeking to repeat it.
• You already left the country and started studying abroad before the date of the advertisement.
• You are already receiving a scholarship or financial assistance from any government or other organisation, including the university or college, for the same course.
• Your family income exceeds Rs 8,00,000 a year, or you cannot produce a valid income certificate from a Delhi competent authority.
• You are 30 years or older on the cut-off date.
• A sibling has already been awarded under the scheme, since only one child per parents or guardians is eligible.
• You are an employed candidate who has not routed the application through your employer with a No Objection Certificate.

How much is paid, and when?

Assistance is Rs 5 lakh per annum, subject to:

Payment is made "or actual amount whichever is less", so a course costing less than the ceiling draws only the actual cost. The department credits the money to the candidate's bank account in instalments. The first instalment is released immediately after confirmation of admission, and subsequent instalments once every six months or one year, against a progress report from the foreign institution.

The guidelines are explicit that assistance is released only after admission is confirmed and the supporting documents: application forms, offer letter, visa, passport and bank details: are submitted. No money moves on the strength of a conditional offer alone.

What documents are required?

All copies must be self-attested.

How to apply for the Delhi overseas scholarship for SC students

1. Watch for the annual advertisement on scstwelfare.delhi.gov.in. The department's own published application form carried an opening date of 01/01/2020 and a closing date of 31/01/2020, which indicates a January window, but the dates are notified afresh each year and must be checked.
2. Assess your own eligibility against the six conditions: SC category, Delhi residence, below 30, family income up to Rs 8 lakh, 55 per cent in the relevant degree, and only one child per parents.
3. Secure an unconditional offer letter from a foreign university or institution accredited by an authorised body of that country. The guidelines state that students holding such an offer may be considered on a first-come-first-served basis, subject to the other conditions and the availability of slots.
4. Obtain the certificates — SC caste certificate and income certificate in the prescribed format, both from the competent authority of Delhi and valid at the time of submission.
5. Fill the prescribed application form, which asks for personal details, family income for each family member, bank details with MICR and IFSC, academic record from graduation onwards, published research papers, employment particulars, visa status and the institution details abroad.
6. Sign the undertaking at Annexure-I, which commits you to repay the amount disbursed if you discontinue, not to change the university or course, to return to India, and to remain in India for at least 5 years.
7. Route the application through your employer with a No Objection Certificate if you are employed.
8. Submit within the advertised window. The department's 2025-26 scholarship guidelines describe applications being "submitted on-line" with documents uploaded, while the department's list of schemes marks this scheme as (Offline) and the older scheme text required a hardcopy submission to the department. Confirm the mode in the current year's advertisement before filing.
9. Attend the personal interview if called. The selection committee may require candidates to present themselves.

Who selects the candidates?

The 2025-26 guidelines set out the selection committee:

1. Principal Secretary or Secretary, Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC, Delhi; Chairman
2. Special Secretary, Finance Department, Government of NCT of Delhi; Member
3. Special Director, Directorate of Higher Education, Government of NCT of Delhi; Member
4. Deputy Director (Scholarship), Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC: Member
5. Head of Department or representative of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Delhi University, Member

Two or three members may be co-opted. Where two or more candidates tie, the elder candidate, going by the date of birth in the Secondary School Certificate, is placed above the others.

What conditions apply after the award is sanctioned?

The scheme's post-award obligations are unusually strict, and applicants should read them before signing the undertaking:

• No change of university, institution, course or research for which the scholarship was sanctioned, except with the Selection Committee's approval in extraordinary circumstances.
• Return to India after the course. Permission to stay abroad for 2 years after completion may be considered, with reasons recorded in writing and without any financial support.
• Intimate the government in writing immediately on returning to India.
• Submit the course completion certificate from the institution to the Secretary of the department.
• Remain in India for at least 5 years after return, and serve the government if you were in government service before going abroad.
• Declare, before leaving, that you have not already acquired the qualification in the meanwhile and have not submitted a final thesis leading to it from an Indian university.

What happens on default?

Two default routes are spelled out. A candidate who violates any term or condition, or about whom an adverse report is received, is liable to refund the entire amount spent, though where the violation appears unintentional and caused by genuine circumstances, the matter goes back to the selection committee. A candidate who furnishes false information or documents is debarred from the award, blacklisted for the future, and faces recovery of the amount spent; the department's earlier published scheme text set that recovery at 15 per cent compound interest, while the 2025-26 guidelines refer to the prevalent current rate of interest. An employed candidate additionally faces departmental action, which the Delhi government takes up with the employer.

Why do applications fail, and how do you avoid it?

• Income certificate not in the prescribed format, or issued outside Delhi, or expired at the date of submission. Fix: get a fresh certificate from the Delhi competent authority close to the application date.
• Caste certificate not issued by a Delhi authority. Fix: where the SC certificate comes from another state's authority, attach a Delhi domicile certificate as the department requires for its other scholarship schemes.
• Conditional offer letter only. Fix: the guidelines speak of an unconditional offer; secure it before applying.
• Course outside the five specified fields. No fix, the field list is closed.
• Already abroad. A student who left before the advertisement date is excluded outright.
• Double funding. A university scholarship or another government award for the same course disqualifies the application; the undertaking requires a declaration on this.
• Employed candidate applying directly. Fix: route the application through the employer with an NOC.

Help and grievance redressal

• Department for the Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, GNCTD: 011-23379512
• Address: B-Block, 2nd Floor, Vikas Bhawan, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002
• Scheme page and guidelines PDF: scstwelfare.delhi.gov.in, under the notifications and services-schemes sections
• Other state scholarships from the same department: reimbursement of tuition fees for Class I to XII, merit scholarship for professional and technical courses, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar State Topper Award of Rs 25,000, and Mukhyamantri Vidyarthi Pratibha Yojna

Applications under this scheme are free. The department does not authorise any agent or consultancy to charge a fee for securing the award, and admission consultants have no role in the selection committee's decision.

How to check your application status

The scheme runs on a once-a-year advertisement rather than a standing online dashboard, so tracking an application depends on which year's mode you applied under.

1. If you applied online, through the process the 2025-26 guidelines describe, log back in to the portal named in that year's advertisement on scstwelfare.delhi.gov.in with the same credentials or application number you used at submission. The portal shows whether the form and uploaded documents were accepted, or whether it is still pending scrutiny.
2. If you applied offline, by submitting a hardcopy to the department, as the department's own scheme list still marks this scheme, there is no applicant-facing tracking number. Status has to be confirmed by contacting the department directly.
3. Call the department helpline, 011-23379512, and quote your name, category (Master's or PhD), the year of the advertisement, and the university you applied against. Scrutiny, shortlisting and the selection committee meeting happen in sequence, so early in the cycle the honest answer is often that the file is still under scrutiny.
4. Visit or write to the department at B-Block, 2nd Floor, Vikas Bhawan, I.P. Estate, New Delhi-110002, if the helpline cannot locate the file or if you need written confirmation, for instance to show a foreign university that an award is confirmed before an admission deadline.
5. Watch for the selection result on scstwelfare.delhi.gov.in under the notifications section. Selected candidates are those the committee places highest after verifying the six eligibility conditions and, where offer letters tie on timing, the elder candidate by date of birth.
6. After selection, track disbursal separately from selection. Being selected does not itself move money; the first instalment follows only once admission is confirmed and the application form, offer letter, visa, passport and bank details have all been submitted and verified. If a name appears in the selected list but no instalment has arrived, the likely cause is one of these post-selection documents still pending with the department, and the helpline is the right place to confirm which one.