Jharkhand State Scheduled Tribe Pre-Matric Scholarship

What is the Jharkhand State Scheduled Tribe Pre-Matric Scholarship?

Jharkhand State Scheduled Tribe Pre-Matric Scholarship is a scholarship run by the Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare Department, Government of Jharkhand for Scheduled Tribe students studying up to class 10 in the state. "Pre-matric" means before matriculation, that is, before the class 10 board examination.

The scholarship is delivered through e-Kalyan, the Welfare Department's online scholarship system at ekalyan.cgg.gov.in, which the department lists as an external link on its own page on jharkhand.gov.in. The same portal handles pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Backward Class and minority students, which is why families in Jharkhand usually call the whole thing simply "e-Kalyan scholarship".

Jharkhand has one of the largest Scheduled Tribe populations of any Indian state, concentrated in the Santhal Pargana, Kolhan and Chotanagpur regions, and dropout is heaviest at two points, the move from primary to upper primary, and again at class 9. The direct costs at those stages, uniforms, books, notebooks, examination fees and travel, fall hardest on households near the poverty line. The pre-matric scholarship exists so that an ST child is not withdrawn from school for want of a few thousand rupees.

Key features

• Covers classes 1 to 10 in recognised schools in Jharkhand.
• Annual family income limit of Rs 2,50,000.
• Paid by Direct Benefit Transfer through PFMS into the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account.
• Applied for online, with the school filing and verifying the application on its institute login.
• Classes 9 and 10 are supported under the centrally-sponsored pre-matric scholarship for Scheduled Tribe students; the earlier classes are supported by the state.

Who is eligible for the ST pre-matric scholarship?

Your child can get the scholarship if:

• The student belongs to a Scheduled Tribe notified for Jharkhand and holds a caste certificate issued by the competent authority in the state.
• The student is studying in classes 1 to 10 in a school in Jharkhand recognised by the government or a recognised board.
• The annual family income does not exceed Rs 2,50,000, evidenced by an income certificate from the Circle Officer.
• The student, or the parent or guardian, is a permanent resident of Jharkhand.
• The student has an Aadhaar-seeded bank account, or a joint account with a parent where the child is too young to hold one alone.
• The student was promoted to the class now being studied, evidenced by the previous year's marksheet.

Your child is not eligible and cannot apply if:

• The student does not belong to a Scheduled Tribe. Scheduled Caste, Backward Class and minority students have their own parallel schemes on the same e-Kalyan portal.
• Family income exceeds Rs 2,50,000 a year.
• The student is studying outside Jharkhand, or in an institution that is not recognised.
• The student has already passed class 10, the pre-matric scheme ends at matriculation, after which the ST post-matric scholarship applies.
• The student is repeating the same class after failing; the scholarship for the repeated year is not payable.
• The student is drawing another scholarship for the same purpose in the same year, since duplicate scholarships for the same course are not permitted.
• The application is filed after the portal window closes, or the school does not verify it in time.

Boys and girls are covered on identical terms, and there is no cap on the number of children from one family, subject to the income limit.

How much is the scholarship?

The amount depends on the class and on whether the student is a day scholar or a hosteller, with hostellers on the higher rate because their living costs are higher.

For classes 9 and 10, covered under the centrally-supported Pre-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe students, the published academic allowance is:

For classes 1 to 8, rates are fixed by the state, are lower, and are notified session by session on the e-Kalyan portal rather than being permanently fixed. Because those figures change between years and between categories, check the rate published for the current session on ekalyan.cgg.gov.in instead of relying on a number quoted by an unofficial site or a coaching centre.

The money is credited directly to the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account through PFMS. No cash changes hands at the school, and no portion of the scholarship is payable to anyone as a fee.

What documents are required?

Get the caste, income and residence certificates first. All three come from the Circle Officer and can be applied for on the JharSewa e-district portal at jharsewa.jharkhand.gov.in or at the block office, and each takes time. Every session a large number of otherwise eligible ST students miss the window purely because one certificate was still pending on the last date.

How to apply for the Jharkhand ST pre-matric scholarship

1. Obtain the three certificates; Scheduled Tribe, income and residence, from the Circle Officer through JharSewa or the block office, well before the scholarship window opens.
2. Open or verify the bank account. It should be in the student's name where possible, and must be Aadhaar-seeded at the branch so that a PFMS credit can reach it.
3. Approach the class teacher or school principal once the e-Kalyan window opens. For pre-matric classes the school files the application on the institution's own e-Kalyan login; the student does not register separately.
4. Hand the document set to the school, ST, income and residence certificates, Aadhaar card, first page of the bank passbook, previous class marksheet and photograph.
5. Check the entries the school makes before submission, in particular the name spelling, account number and IFSC code. One wrong digit stops the payment for the whole session.
6. Ensure the school verifies the application on the portal. An application submitted but not verified by the institution before the deadline is treated as incomplete and lapses.
7. Note the application or reference number the portal generates and keep it for the year.
8. Track the status on ekalyan.cgg.gov.in and check the bank passbook once disbursal for the session begins.

Applying is free. The school cannot charge for filing, and no agent or cyber cafe is authorised to demand money for a scholarship application.

How do I check the application status?

1. Open ekalyan.cgg.gov.in.
2. Use the application or payment status option and enter the application number or the details the portal asks for.
3. Read the stage shown — submitted, verified by institute, verified at district level, sanctioned, or paid.
4. If the status shows paid but the money has not arrived, ask the bank branch whether the account's Aadhaar seeding is live in the NPCI mapper, which is a different thing from merely having given the bank an Aadhaar copy.

Where the portal shows "pending at institute", the delay is at the school and the principal is the person to follow up with, not the district office.

Key dates

The e-Kalyan pre-matric window runs on an annual cycle opening in autumn and closing in late winter. For the 2025-26 session the pre-matric window ran from 2 November, with student applications and institute-level verification both due by 28 February 2026.

Two things matter more than the exact dates. First, institute verification carries its own deadline, often the same day as the student submission deadline. An application submitted on the last day, leaving the school no time to verify it, will simply lapse. Second, the department sometimes extends the window, but extensions are announced on the portal and cannot be counted on. Treat the published date as final.

Always confirm the current session's dates on ekalyan.cgg.gov.in, because they move by a few weeks from year to year.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Income certificate above Rs 2,50,000. The ceiling is hard. Nothing can be done except correcting the certificate if the recorded income is wrong.
• Caste certificate from outside Jharkhand, or from an authority that is not competent. Obtain a fresh certificate from the Circle Officer.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded. PFMS cannot credit an unseeded account; complete seeding at the branch and confirm it is reflected in the NPCI mapper.
• Name mismatch between the Aadhaar card, the school record and the bank passbook. Align all three spellings before the next window.
• Wrong IFSC or account number entered on the portal. Correct it through the school in the next window; a failed credit is not retried automatically.
• School did not verify before the deadline. Follow up during the window, not after it closes.
• Student repeating a class, or already past class 10, both of which put the student outside the pre-matric scheme.
• Duplicate scholarship claimed for the same class and session.

Where to get help

• e-Kalyan helpline: 040-23120591, 040-23120592, 040-23120593, for portal and application problems.
• School principal. The first point of contact for any pre-matric application, since the school holds the institute login.
• District Welfare Officer, for rejected applications, certificate disputes and delayed disbursal within the district.
• Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare Department, Project Bhawan, Dhurwa, Ranchi – 834004, phone 0651-2400215 or 0651-2446282, for matters unresolved at district level.
• JharSewa (jharsewa.jharkhand.gov.in), for the caste, income and residence certificates the application depends on.

The scholarship is a government entitlement paid straight into the student's account. No teacher, clerk, agent or cyber cafe operator is entitled to any part of it, and a demand for a cut should be reported in writing to the District Welfare Officer.