Award to Scheduled Castes Students Who Secured Top Ranks at State and District Level in Standard X & XII (Sahuji Maharaj Assistance)

What is the Sahuji Maharaj award for SC toppers?

Award to Scheduled Castes Students Who Secured Top Ranks at State and District Level in Standard X & XII, commonly listed as Sahuji Maharaj Assistance, is a cash-prize scheme of the Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare under the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat.

Sahuji Maharaj Assistance recognises the highest-scoring Scheduled Caste students in the annual Gujarat board examinations. Cash prizes go to the first three students who secure the highest ranks in Standard X and in Standard XII, at two levels, statewide, and within each district. Standard XII awards cover all streams, so a commerce-stream topper and a science-stream topper are both within scope.

The scheme is unusual in Gujarat's welfare portfolio in two ways. First, there is no income limit at all; merit is the only test. Second, there is no application form: the department pulls the rank list directly from the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board and awards accordingly. A student does not compete for the award by filing paperwork; a student earns it by placing in the top three.

Readers will sometimes see the scheme referred to in transliterated form as the Sahuji Maharaj sahay for SC top rankers. The official English title is the one at the head of this page.

How much is the award money?

State-level awards

District-level awards

The state-level Standard X first prize of Rs 41,000 is the single largest payout under the scheme. Note that Standard X carries a larger first prize than Standard XII; Rs 41,000 against Rs 31,000 to while the second and third prizes are identical at Rs 21,000 and Rs 11,000 for both examinations.

District-level awards are a separate, smaller tier at Rs 6,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 4,000. Because they are awarded per district, a far larger number of students benefit at this level than at state level across Gujarat's districts.

The award is a one-time cash prize, not a recurring scholarship. It does not bar a student from also holding a post-matric scholarship or any other Scheduled Caste education benefit for which they separately qualify.

Who is eligible for the Sahuji Maharaj award?

A student qualifies if:

• The student belongs to the Scheduled Castes category of Gujarat, evidenced by a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• The student has secured a top-three rank at state level or district level in Gujarat in Standard X or Standard XII.
• The rank is in the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board examination, from whose list the department draws the winners.
• For Standard XII, the rank may be in any stream; all streams are covered.

A student is not eligible if:

• The student is not from the Scheduled Castes category. Scheduled Tribe, Socially and Educationally Backward Class and general-category students are outside this scheme, though separate merit awards exist under other directorates of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department.
• The student did not place in the top three at state or district level. A very high percentage alone does not qualify — the scheme rewards rank, not a cut-off score.
• The student sat a board other than the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board. Because the winner list is taken from that board, students of other boards cannot apply for the award on the basis of their own board's merit list.

There is no income test of any kind, and no requirement that the student continue to a particular course after the examination.

How to apply for the Sahuji Maharaj award

Sahuji Maharaj Assistance has no citizen application form, so there is nothing to fill in. The steps below describe the real institutional route, which is what a student or parent should follow up on:

1. Appear in the Standard X or Standard XII examination of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board and place in the top three at state or district level.
2. Wait for the board result and rank list to be published. The Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare obtains the list of top-ranking students directly from the board, the student does not submit it.
3. Respond to the district Scheduled Caste welfare office when it contacts the school or the family for verification. At this stage the student must produce the caste certificate, the board marksheet, a school identity card, a photograph and Aadhaar.
4. Provide a bank account in the student's own name if the district pays the award by transfer, or attend the felicitation at which the district hands over the prize.
5. Keep copies of everything submitted, and note the name of the officer handling the file for later follow-up.

If a student believes they are within the top three but has not been contacted, the correct step is to approach the district office of the Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare with the marksheet and caste certificate, and ask that the file be checked against the board's rank list. Do not file a separate online application on e-Samaj Kalyan for this scheme; it is not an application-driven scheme and a stray filing will simply be closed.

What documents will be asked for?

The caste certificate is the document that most often causes delay. If the family holds only a parent's certificate, apply for the student's own certificate through the Mamlatdar's office as soon as the board result is out, rather than waiting for the welfare office to ask.

Common reasons an award file stalls

• Caste certificate in the parent's name only, not the student's.
• Name mismatch between the board marksheet, the Aadhaar card and the caste certificate. This is very common where a surname is spelled differently in Gujarati and English records.
• No bank account in the student's own name, which delays transfer of the prize money for minors in particular.
• School unreachable during the summer vacation, so the verification request sent to the school goes unanswered. Give the district office a direct family contact number.

None of these affect entitlement. The rank list decides the winner; the documents only prove identity and category.

Key dates

Sahuji Maharaj Assistance has no application window and no last date. The cycle follows the Gujarat board examination calendar: examinations in the spring, results and rank lists in the following weeks, and the department's award process after the rank list reaches the Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare. Sanctions are made against the state financial year running 1 April to 31 March.

Where to get help

• Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare; Block No. 4, Second Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar. Telephone 079-23253229 or 079-23253235, working hours 10:30 am to 6:10 pm on working days.
• District Scheduled Caste welfare officer. The correct first contact for verification, caste-certificate questions and payment follow-up. The district directory is published on esamajkalyan.gujarat.gov.in.
• The school that presented the student for the board examination: schools are usually the channel through which the district office first makes contact.

No fee is payable at any stage, and no agent can secure this award. The prize follows the board rank list and nothing else.