Award for Punjabi as a Second Language — Haryana

What is the Punjabi second language award in Haryana?

Award for Punjabi as a Second Language is a scheme of the Department of Secondary Education, Haryana that gives a cash award to students who take Punjabi as their second language and do well in it in the Board matriculation examination. The State DBT Portal, dbtharyana.gov.in, lists it under the Department of Secondary Education as "Award of Punjabi Second Language on the basis of Board Matric Exam Student studying in class 11th and 12TH", a title that sets out the whole design in one line. The trigger is the class 10 Board result in Punjabi; the payment runs while the student is in classes 11 and 12.

Haryana has a specific reason for running a language award of this kind. Punjabi is the second official language of Haryana, and Punjabi-speaking families are present in large numbers across Sirsa, Fatehabad, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Yamunanagar and Panchkula, as well as in the urban centres. But a second language in a school timetable competes with subjects that students believe matter more for board marks and for admissions. Without an incentive, enrolment in the second language drifts to whichever option is thought to be easiest to score in. A cash award tied to performance in Punjabi, paid over the two senior secondary years, is a small and direct counterweight to that drift.

How much is the award and how is it paid?

The award rate for this scheme is not published in the State DBT Portal's scheme listing. This guide does not quote a rupee figure, because no figure could be confirmed on a Haryana government source. Several private scheme-aggregator websites carry amounts for Punjabi language incentives in Haryana; those figures should not be relied on.

What is documented is the payment route. The scheme sits on the State DBT Portal, which the Government of Haryana operates as the single platform for direct benefit transfers. According to the portal, DBT in Haryana covers 165 schemes across 26 departments, with cumulative transfers of about Rs 1,17,205 crore since inception. A benefit on that platform reaches the beneficiary as a Direct Benefit Transfer into an Aadhaar-seeded bank account, not as cash or a cheque handed out at school.

To find the current rate, ask in this order:

1. The school office, which files the claim and will have the departmental circular for the year.
2. The District Education Officer (Secondary) for your district.
3. The Directorate of Secondary Education, Haryana, Panchkula, through the scheme branch that issues the annual instructions.

Who is eligible for the Punjabi second language award?

A student qualifies if:

• The student is a resident of Haryana studying in a school in the state.
• The student offered Punjabi as a second language and appeared in it in the Board matriculation examination, that is class 10.
• The student performed well enough in Punjabi in that examination to fall inside the merit or qualifying standard fixed by the Department of Secondary Education for the year.
• The student is currently studying in class 11 or class 12, since the award is expressly payable to a student at that stage.
• The student holds Aadhaar, a Family ID and a bank account in the student's own name for the DBT credit.

A student is not eligible if:

• The student did not take Punjabi as a second language in class 10.
• The student did not appear in, or did not clear, the Board matriculation examination in the relevant year.
• The student's Punjabi marks are below the standard fixed for the award that year.
• The student has dropped out after class 10 or is not enrolled in class 11 or class 12, which removes the basis for the payment.
• The student is studying outside Haryana.
• The bank account offered is not in the student's own name or is not Aadhaar-seeded, which prevents the DBT credit.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Punjabi second language award

1. Collect the Board matric marksheet as soon as the Board of School Education Haryana result is declared, and check the marks recorded against Punjabi as the second language.
2. Take admission in class 11 and get a bonafide or admission certificate from the school, since the award is payable to a student at the senior secondary stage.
3. Approach the school office, the class teacher, the school head or the scheme clerk — and ask to be entered for the Punjabi second language award for the current academic session. Applications for departmental awards of this kind are consolidated and forwarded by the school, not filed individually by the student.
4. Submit the documents to the school, the class 10 marksheet, the admission certificate, Aadhaar, Family ID, Haryana residence proof and a photocopy of the student's own bank passbook.
5. Confirm that the bank account is Aadhaar-seeded and is in the student's own name. A parent's account or an unseeded account is the commonest reason a DBT credit fails.
6. Ask the school for the acknowledgement or the reference under which the claim was forwarded to the District Education Officer, and note it down.
7. Follow up in class 12 as well, because the award covers both senior secondary years and the school must include the student in the next year's list too.

How to check whether the award has been sanctioned

1. Ask the school office whether the district has returned a sanctioned list for the session and whether your name appears on it.
2. Contact the District Education Officer (Secondary) for the district, who consolidates school-wise claims.
3. Check the State DBT Portal at dbtharyana.gov.in, which publishes the department-wise scheme list and the DBT cell contacts for each department.
4. Check the bank passbook for the credit, since the award is disbursed by Direct Benefit Transfer.

Why award claims fail

• Punjabi not recorded as the second language in the Board record, even though the student studied it.
• Marks below the standard fixed for the award in that year.
• Student not enrolled in class 11 or 12 at the time the list is prepared.
• Bank account in a parent's name, or not seeded with Aadhaar, so the transfer bounces.
• Family ID details not matching the student's name or date of birth.
• School did not include the student in the list sent to the district. This is the most common failure of all for school-routed awards, and the only defence is to confirm in writing with the school that the name has been sent.

Where to get help

• The school head or scheme clerk, who prepares and forwards the claim.
• District Education Officer (Secondary) at the district headquarters.
• Directorate of Secondary Education, Haryana, Shiksha Sadan, Sector 5, Panchkula.
• dbtharyana.gov.in, the State DBT Portal, which carries the scheme listing under the Department of Secondary Education and the departmental DBT cell contacts.
• schooleducationharyana.gov.in, the school education portal, for departmental circulars and schemes.
• CM Window, Haryana's grievance portal, if a sanctioned award is not credited.

Applying for this award costs nothing. No fee is payable to the school or to anyone else, and the award reaches the student only through Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own bank account.