Vidyasiri Food and Accommodation Scheme

What is the Vidyasiri Food and Accommodation Scheme?

Vidyasiri Food and Accommodation Scheme is a Karnataka state scheme run by the Backward Classes Welfare Department that gives a cash allowance to backward-class students in post-matric courses who applied for a government or aided hostel and did not get a seat. Students commonly search for it as Vidyarthi Vidya Siri or Mukhyamantri Vidyasiri, but the notified name on the department's own page is Vidyasiri – Food and Accommodation Scholarship Scheme.

The problem the scheme addresses is simple. Karnataka's welfare hostels have far fewer beds than there are eligible students. A student from a village who gets into a degree college in a taluk or district headquarters, and misses out on a hostel seat, has to pay for a room and for food out of a family budget that is already stretched. Vidyasiri converts the hostel entitlement the student did not get into money.

According to the Backward Classes Welfare Department, selected candidates are paid Rs 1,500 per month for 10 months of the academic year, and the resulting Rs 15,000 is credited online by RTGS into a bank account the student holds with any Core Banking System bank.

One clarification matters, because it is widely misreported: Vidyasiri is not a free laptop scheme. The department describes it only as boarding and lodging assistance. No laptop, tablet or device worth Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000 forms part of the notified Vidyasiri scheme.

Who is eligible for Vidyasiri?

You can receive Vidyasiri if:

• You are an Indian citizen and a permanent resident of Karnataka.
• You belong to an Other Backward Class notified by the Government of India or the Government of Karnataka.
• You are studying a post-matric course in a government, local body, aided, or recognised unaided private institution under a Karnataka statutory university.
• You were not admitted to a government or government-aided hostel or to a residential college of any department.
• Your gross annual family income is within Rs 2.50 lakh (Category 1) or Rs 1.00 lakh (Category 2A, 3A and 3B).
• You are from a rural area and your home is at least 5 km from the college. A student whose home town or city is different from the town or city where the college is located also qualifies.
• You passed the previous annual examination with at least 55% (Category 1) or 65% (Category 2A, 3A, 3B) when claiming the benefit for the first time.

You are not eligible if:

• You already hold a government or aided hostel seat, or a seat in a departmental residential college.
• You are taking the post-matric scholarship in the same year. Only one of the two can be claimed.
• You are repeating an equivalent course. The department gives the examples of doing B.Com after BA, an MA in English after an MA in Kannada, or LLB after B.Ed. Students who have changed courses more than once are not eligible.
• You are in a postgraduate medical course and practising medicine during the course.
• You are the third or later son in the same family to claim the scheme. Only two sons per family are eligible. This restriction does not apply to girl students.
• Your family income is above the ceiling for your category.

What documents are required for Vidyasiri?

A recurring cause of trouble is a caste or income certificate issued in the parent's name. Karnataka's State Scholarship Portal validates the RD number against the Atalji Janasnehi / Nadakacheri record, and it must be a certificate in the student's own name.

How to apply for Vidyasiri online

1. Get a caste certificate and an income certificate in your own name from Nadakacheri or the Atalji Janasnehi centre, and note the RD numbers printed on them.
2. Open the State Scholarship Portal at ssp.postmatric.karnataka.gov.in and create a student account if you do not already have one. Students who applied in a previous year should reuse the same login rather than register again.
3. Log in and select the Backward Classes Welfare Department, then choose Vidyasiri – Food and Accommodation as the scheme. Do not choose the post-matric scholarship as well, the two cannot be held together.
4. Fill in your Aadhaar number, SSLC registration number, caste and income RD numbers, district, taluk, assembly constituency, home address, college enrolment number and, for professional courses, your counselling details.
5. Enter your bank account details. The account must be in your own name and Aadhaar-linked, because the Rs 15,000 is released by RTGS.
6. Submit the application before the last date, 31 August 2026 for 2026-27, and print or save the acknowledgement.
7. Follow up with your college, which has to verify the application on SSP before it moves to the Backward Classes Welfare Department for sanction.

How to get help if you cannot apply online

1. Approach your college scholarship section. Colleges are part of the SSP workflow and can see where an application is stuck.
2. Visit the taluk or district Backward Classes Welfare Office. Contact lists for the secretariat, head office, district offices and taluk offices are published on bcwd.karnataka.gov.in.
3. Call the Backward Classes Welfare Department helpline on 8050770004, or the State Scholarship Portal helpline on 1902, between 10.30 am and 5.30 pm.
4. Write to bcwd.scholarship@karnataka.gov.in for departmental issues or postmatrichelp@karnataka.gov.in for portal issues.

How to check your Vidyasiri application and payment status

Log in to ssp.postmatric.karnataka.gov.in with the same student credentials and open the application status page. The status will show one of a few stages: saved but not submitted, pending with the college, pending with the department, sanctioned, or rejected with a reason. The Backward Classes Welfare Department also publishes scholarship paid reports on bcwd.karnataka.gov.in, which let you confirm whether the money for your college and district has been released.

If the status says sanctioned but the money has not arrived, the problem is almost always the bank account, either the account is not Aadhaar-seeded, the name does not match, or the account has gone dormant.

Why Vidyasiri applications get rejected

• Caste or income certificate in the parent's name instead of the student's.
• Income above the ceiling for the category, Rs 2.50 lakh for Category 1 and Rs 1.00 lakh for Category 2A, 3A and 3B.
• Marks below the cut-off in the previous annual examination, 55% for Category 1 and 65% for Category 2A, 3A and 3B on first claim.
• Already holding a hostel seat. The hostel and Vidyasiri databases are cross-checked and a student cannot draw both.
• Both the post-matric scholarship and Vidyasiri applied for, which forces the department to reject one.
• Distance rule not met, where the home is less than 5 km from the college and in the same town.
• College did not verify the application before the cut-off.
• Bank account not in the student's name or not Aadhaar-linked.

Key dates for Vidyasiri in 2026-27

The Backward Classes Welfare Department has invited online applications for 2026-27 from backward-class students and Category 1 nomadic and semi-nomadic students for the post-matric scholarship, the nomadic and semi-nomadic post-matric eligibility scholarship, fee concession and Vidyasiri food and accommodation assistance together. The last date is 31 August 2026. Karnataka has extended scholarship deadlines in past years, but the safe course is to apply well before the announced date rather than count on an extension.

Help and grievance redressal

• Backward Classes Welfare Department helpline: 8050770004
• Department email: bcwd.scholarship@karnataka.gov.in
• State Scholarship Portal helpline: 1902
• SSP email: postmatrichelp@karnataka.gov.in
• Office timings: 10.30 am to 5.30 pm
• IPGRS Janaspandana at ipgrs.karnataka.gov.in for a written grievance

Applying for Vidyasiri is free. No agent, cyber centre or middleman can charge you for "getting the scholarship sanctioned", and no official will ask for your SSP password or an OTP.