Backward Classes Foreign Study Scholarship Scheme

What is the Backward Classes Foreign Study Scholarship Scheme?

Backward Classes Foreign Study Scholarship Scheme is a Madhya Pradesh state scheme, run by the Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department, that sends OBC non-creamy-layer students of the state to foreign universities for a postgraduate degree, a PhD, or a post-doctoral research programme, with the state paying the fees and the living costs. In Hindi it is the Pichhda Varg Videsh Adhyayan Chhatravritti Yojana.

Backward Classes Foreign Study Scholarship Scheme was launched on 1 January 2007 and has since sent students to universities in the United States, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. State reporting puts the annual intake at around 50 students and the budget provision at about Rs 22 crore for the year reported, with roughly Rs 8 crore spent on fee reimbursement in 2022-23.

Unlike a fixed-value scholarship, this scheme is expenditure-based. The state meets the actual tuition fee charged by the foreign institution. That is why individual awards vary so widely; one publicised case, a student admitted to the London School of Economics, received Rs 40,70,736 for the first year's fees alone.

What does the scholarship pay for?

According to the department's description of the scheme, the award covers:

• Tuition fees as actually charged by the foreign institution.
• Living allowance (subsistence) for the duration of the approved course.
• Contingency allowance for books, equipment and study materials.
• Health insurance required by the host country or university.
• Visa fees.
• Economy-class airfare for travel to the country of study, and the onward travel from the port of entry to the place of study.

Course durations recognised under the scheme are broadly two years for a postgraduate degree, up to four years for a PhD, and about eighteen months for a post-doctoral research programme. Funding runs for the approved duration, not beyond it, so a student who extends a PhD past the sanctioned period bears the extra cost.

Who is eligible for the Backward Classes Foreign Study Scholarship?

A student can be considered when all of these are true:

• The student is an original resident of Madhya Pradesh and can produce a domicile or native certificate.
• The student belongs to the Other Backward Classes, non-creamy layer, as certified by the competent authority, and family income is within the non-creamy-layer limit prescribed by the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
• The student secured first class, that is 60 per cent or the equivalent grade, in the last qualifying examination.
• The student is under 35 years of age as on 1 January of the application year.
• The student has secured admission to a recognised university or institution abroad for a postgraduate degree, a PhD, or post-doctoral research.
• No other member of the same family has already taken this scholarship, the scheme allows one applicant per family.

Who is not eligible:

• Students in the creamy layer of the OBC category, or whose family income crosses the prescribed limit.
• Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and general category students, they are not covered by this scheme, though separate state schemes exist for them.
• Students aged 35 or above on the cut-off date.
• Students going abroad for an undergraduate degree, a diploma or a short certificate course. Only PG, PhD and post-doctoral programmes are covered.
• Students who scored below 60 per cent in the last qualifying examination.
• Students who are not original residents of Madhya Pradesh, even if they studied in the state.
• A second member of a family where the scholarship has already been used.

How to apply for the Backward Classes Foreign Study Scholarship

1. Secure admission first. The scheme is built around an existing offer from a recognised foreign university. Apply to your universities, get the offer letter and the fee schedule, and keep the deposit deadlines in mind, because the state's sanction takes time.
2. Collect the certificates. OBC non-creamy-layer certificate, Madhya Pradesh domicile or native certificate, and income certificate from the competent revenue authority. Each has its own validity period, get them fresh rather than reusing an old one.
3. Watch for the annual advertisement on bcwelfare.mp.nic.in. The Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department issues a notice each academic year with the application window and the number of scholarships.
4. Fill the online application on the department portal with your personal, academic, family income and admission details, and upload the scanned documents.
5. Submit the hard copy set for verification wherever the advertisement directs, usually the Directorate of Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare at Bhopal, or through the district office. Retain the acknowledgement.
6. Attend the selection stage if called. Selection is made on merit against the sanctioned number of seats for that year.
7. Complete the sanction formalities after selection: bank details, passport and visa copies, and the institution's fee demand — so that fees can be remitted and allowances released.

What documents are required?

Common reasons applications are rejected

• Creamy-layer status. An OBC certificate that does not carry a current non-creamy-layer endorsement is the most frequent rejection ground.
• Age crossed 35 on the reference date, discovered only at verification.
• Below 60 per cent in the last qualifying examination, including cases where a CGPA was converted optimistically rather than by the university's own formula.
• Course not covered, an undergraduate or diploma programme abroad.
• Second claim from the same family.
• Conditional offer without proof of meeting the condition, so the admission cannot be treated as secured.
• Expired or mismatched certificates, especially an income certificate issued for an earlier year.

Where to get help

• Official portal: bcwelfare.mp.nic.in. The Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department's site, which carries the annual advertisement, scheme rules and application link.
• Directorate of Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare, Bhopal. The sanctioning authority for this scheme.
• District Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare office, for certificate queries and hard-copy submission.
• CM Helpline 181. The state's general grievance line if an application is not processed.

Applications are free. No agent, consultant or overseas education company can secure this scholarship for you, and the department does not work through private intermediaries. Verify every deadline and figure against the current year's advertisement on the department portal, because the intake, the income limit and the allowance rates are revised from time to time.