Pre-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students Studying in Classes IX and X, Haryana

What is the Pre-Matric Scholarship for SC students in classes IX and X?

Pre-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students Studying in Classes IX and X is a centrally sponsored scholarship that the Government of Haryana implements through the Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Antyodaya (SEWA) Department and its Directorate of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes at Panchkula. The Government of India's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment frames the guidelines; Haryana identifies beneficiaries, verifies them and releases the money.

According to the Ministry's guidelines for 2021-22 to 2025-26, two older schemes were merged into a single scheme called the Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC Students and Others with effect from 2021-22. The merged scheme has two components:

• Component 1; Scheduled Caste students studying in classes IX and X.
• Component 2; children studying in classes I to X whose parents or guardians are engaged in unclean and hazardous occupations, including manual scavengers as defined under the Manual Scavengers Act 2013, tanners, flayers, waste pickers and persons engaged in hazardous cleaning.

This guide covers Component 1, the class IX and X scholarship that most Haryana SC families apply for. The scheme is often written locally as the "pre-matric chhatravratti" for SC students.

The stated purpose is to reduce dropout at the transition from elementary to secondary schooling, so that more Scheduled Caste students reach the post-matric stage. Funding is shared between the Centre and the state in a 60:40 ratio.

How much money does the Haryana pre-matric SC scholarship give?

From 2022-23 the scheme pays a single consolidated academic allowance instead of the older monthly rate plus ad-hoc grant structure:

Older Haryana scheme pages still describe the pre-revision structure of Rs 110 a month for 10 months for day scholars in classes I to X and Rs 700 a month for 10 months for hostellers in classes III to X, along with an ad-hoc grant of Rs 750 or Rs 1,000 a year. Those are the historical rates. The consolidated annual allowance above is what the current guidelines prescribe, and a family should confirm the amount credited against the sanction shown on the scholarship portal.

Disbursal for both fresh and renewal applications is made in one instalment, not in monthly parts.

Who is eligible for the pre-matric SC scholarship in Haryana?

You can apply if:

• The student is an Indian national domiciled in Haryana.
• The student belongs to a Scheduled Caste notified for Haryana.
• The student is studying in class IX or class X on a full-time basis.
• The parent's or guardian's annual income does not exceed Rs 2.50 lakh.
• The school is a government school, or a private school recognised by the state or a central board, holding a valid UDISE code.

You cannot apply if:

• The student is not from a Scheduled Caste. Backward Class, OBC and minority students have their own separate pre-matric schemes run by the same department.
• Family income of the parent or guardian crosses Rs 2.50 lakh a year.
• The student is enrolled part time, through correspondence or in an unrecognised institution without a UDISE code.
• The student is already holding another educational scholarship for study in classes I to X. A student who is awarded two may keep only one and must inform the head of the institution of the choice made.
• The student is studying outside India, scholarships under this scheme are for study in India only.

Haryana is also expected to run identification drives every March or April to enrol the poorest eligible households first, including families with three or more deprivations in SECC-2011 data and households where one or both parents are illiterate.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the pre-matric SC scholarship in Haryana

1. Take admission in class IX or X in a government school or a recognised private school with a valid UDISE code. The guidelines require the school to make the student apply on the scholarship portal on the same day as admission.
2. Collect the documents listed above; caste certificate, income certificate, domicile proof, Aadhaar, bank passbook and previous marksheet. Haryana verifies family income and residence against the Parivar Pehchan Patra record, so keep the Family ID details current before you start.
3. Register on the scholarship portal used for the session. Haryana routes SC and BC scholarships through the Directorate of Welfare of SC and BC, and the state notifies the portal link and the session's closing date each year on haryanascbc.gov.in.
4. Fill the application form with the student's personal, school, caste, income and bank details, then upload scanned copies of each document in the prescribed size and format.
5. Submit the form and note the application number. Ask the school clerk or nodal teacher for the acknowledgement.
6. Get the school to verify the application. The institution must confirm on the portal that the student has taken admission and is a bonafide student. An application that is never verified by the school does not move forward.
7. Track the sanction on the portal and check the bank account after the scheduled release date.

How to apply offline or with help

Not every family can file online. Three practical routes exist in Haryana:

1. Through the school — the head of the institution or the nodal teacher for scholarships fills the form on the portal on the family's behalf. This is the route the guidelines expect.
2. Through the District Welfare Officer of the Directorate of Welfare of SC and BC in your district, who can direct you to the current session's form and closing date.
3. Through a Common Service Centre or Antyodaya Saral Kendra, which handles assisted filing for Haryana government services.

No agent can charge a fee for "getting your name added" to the beneficiary list.

When is the money paid?

Central guidelines fix a payment calendar. For applications received between 1 April and 31 July, the state must release its 40 per cent share by 15 August and the Centre must release its 60 per cent share by 30 August. For applications received after those dates, the state share is due within two months of submission and the central share within one month of the state release and data sharing on the central portal.

Payment reaches the student's or parent's account only through DBT, preferably through the Aadhaar Payment Bridge, with states routing releases through PFMS. No cash or cheque payment is made through the school.

How long does the scholarship continue?

The award once made is payable until the student passes class X, subject to satisfactory academic performance and 75 per cent attendance in each academic year, verified through an Aadhaar-based attendance system. Renewal students are auto-renewed on the portal once the institution confirms attendance and promotion, so a fresh application is not normally required in class X.

Two exceptions matter. A student who cannot appear in the annual examination because of illness may still be renewed on production of a medical certificate accepted by the institution. A student who has to repeat a class does not draw the allowance twice for the same class, because the scholarship for any one class is available for one year only.

Why do pre-matric scholarship applications get rejected?

• School verification not done. The single most common cause. The application sits unverified and lapses.
• Income certificate above Rs 2.50 lakh, or an income certificate that has expired.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit fails and bounces back.
• Name mismatch between the Aadhaar record, the school record and the bank account.
• Duplicate scholarship. The student is already drawing another educational scholarship for classes I to X.
• School without a valid UDISE code, which makes the institution ineligible to host scheme beneficiaries.
• Attendance below 75 per cent in the previous academic year, which blocks renewal.

Fixes are mostly administrative. Correct the bank seeding at your branch, get a fresh income certificate from the tehsil, and ask the school to complete portal verification before the state's cut-off date.

How to check status and raise a grievance

1. Log in to the scholarship portal with the credentials used at registration and open the application status screen.
2. Note which stage is pending: school verification, district verification or directorate sanction.
3. If the application is stuck at school level, follow up with the head of the institution.
4. If it is stuck after school verification, contact the District Welfare Officer of the Directorate of Welfare of SC and BC in your district.
5. For unresolved cases, write to the Directorate of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, Panchkula, on 0172-2564006 or 0172-2567009.

Haryana also accepts grievances through the state's public grievance system. Physical verification covering at least 10 per cent of institutions or students, chosen randomly, is built into the scheme's monitoring, so keep your documents available for a year after the payment.