ICAR Post Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes Candidates

What is the ICAR Post Matric Scholarship for SC/ST candidates?

The ICAR Post Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes candidates is a scholarship run by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It supports SC and ST students studying undergraduate degrees in agriculture and allied sciences at agricultural universities.

According to the ICAR scheme guidelines, the scholarship exists because although ICAR reserves 22.5% of its Junior and Senior Fellowships for SC/ST candidates, too few come forward: often because the cost of undergraduate education prevents students from weaker sections from completing a degree in the first place. The Post Matric Scholarship is designed to remove that barrier at the undergraduate stage so that more SC/ST students can go on to postgraduate education and research in agriculture.

The scheme guidelines set the value at Rs 300 per month, along with a contingent grant of Rs 750 per annum for tuition fee, purchase of books and the cost of a uniform. It covers UG programmes such as B.Sc. (Agriculture), B.V.Sc., B.Sc. (Agricultural Engineering), B.Sc. (Home Science), B.F.Sc. and B.Sc. (Forestry).

Who is eligible for the ICAR SC/ST Post Matric Scholarship?

You can receive the scholarship if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe as defined by the Government of India.
• You have been admitted to an undergraduate degree programme in agriculture and allied sciences at an agricultural university.
• You make satisfactory academic progress each year as prescribed by the university.

You are not eligible / lose eligibility if:

• You are not from an SC/ST community — the scholarship is exclusively for these categories.
• You accept another scholarship or concession from any other agency, or take up part-time employment. This is expressly barred.
• You cease to be on the rolls of the institution, or the institution and Council find you negligent in studies or guilty of misconduct, the scholarship is then terminated without notice.

Payment rules also cover absence: full scholarship is paid for illness up to two months on a medical certificate; half is paid for absence of two to four months; no scholarship is paid beyond four months. Married women get full rates for up to three months' maternity absence.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the ICAR SC/ST Post Matric Scholarship

This scholarship has no direct central application by the student. It is administered through the agricultural university:

1. Secure admission to an eligible undergraduate agriculture degree at an agricultural university.
2. Register your SC/ST status with the university's SC/ST cell or academic office, submitting your caste certificate and admission proof.
3. The university identifies eligible students and the Registrar or Comptroller raises a demand to ICAR in the prescribed proforma.
4. ICAR sanctions and remits the scholarship and contingent grant to the university, which then pays the students.
5. Maintain satisfactory academic progress so that the scholarship continues from year to year for the normal duration of the degree.

The scheme provides for the award of 240 scholarships every year, distributed to agricultural universities in proportion to the actual number of SC/ST students they admit.

How much does the scholarship provide?

The value is Rs 300 per month plus a contingent grant of Rs 750 per annum. Both amounts are remitted by ICAR to the university, which disburses them from the date the student joins the course, for the whole normal period of the degree. The figures are modest and long-standing; students should confirm the current rate with their university, since ICAR revises scholarship norms from time to time.

A note on scope

This is a small, institutionally administered undergraduate support scheme with a narrow SC/ST eligibility, not a large public benefit and not something a student applies for online. Because it works entirely through the agricultural university and ICAR's demand-and-remittance process, it may serve readers better as a section inside a broader guide to ICAR agricultural education scholarships than as a standalone page. The most authoritative reference is the ICAR guidelines document for the scheme.