Pre-Matric Scholarship for Backward Class Students (Madhya Pradesh)

What is the Pre-Matric Scholarship for Backward Class Students?

Pre-Matric Scholarship for Backward Class Students is a scholarship of the Department of Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare, Government of Madhya Pradesh, paid to Other Backward Class pupils studying in classes 6 to 10 in the state. The purpose is plainly stated in departmental and district listings: to keep children of backward class families in school through the middle and secondary years, which is where the dropout rate has always been highest.

The scholarship is calculated as a monthly rate for 10 months of the academic session and released as a single annual instalment, with the department stating 30 September as the disbursement date and making the head of the educational institution responsible for ensuring the money reaches eligible students' bank accounts.

The state rates published for this scheme are modest and long-standing:

Read that table for what it is. These are legacy state rates that have not been revised in line with prices, and the higher girls' rate reflects the scheme's original intent of pushing girls' retention. A student in Madhya Pradesh may separately qualify for the centrally-sponsored Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC students, which pays considerably more and is applied for through the National Scholarship Portal. Ask your school which of the two, or both, you are being entered for, because the two are administered on different circuits and schools do not always mention the state one.

Main features

• Covers classes 6 to 10 in recognised schools of Madhya Pradesh.
• For Other Backward Class students only.
• Two eligibility tests, the parents are not income tax payers and the family holds less than 10 acres of land.
• Calculated for 10 months and paid as one annual instalment.
• Disbursement date stated as 30 September of the academic year.
• Routed through the school, using the pupil's Samagra ID, and credited by Direct Benefit Transfer.

Who is eligible for this pre-matric scholarship?

A student can claim the scholarship if:

• The student belongs to a caste on the Madhya Pradesh Other Backward Class list and holds a valid OBC caste certificate.
• The student is studying in class 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 as a regular pupil in a recognised school in Madhya Pradesh.
• The parents or guardians are not income tax payers.
• The family holds less than 10 acres of land.
• The student has a bank account in their own name, seeded with Aadhaar.
• The student's Samagra ID and e-KYC are complete and mapped to the school.

Who cannot apply or is not eligible:

• Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students, who are covered by the Scheduled Caste Welfare wing and the Tribal Affairs Department instead, through MPTAAS.
• General category and EWS students, who are outside this scheme entirely.
• Students whose parents pay income tax. This is a bright-line test, not a graded income slab.
• Families holding 10 acres of land or more.
• Students in classes 1 to 5, and in class 11 and above. Class 11 and 12 students and college students fall under the post-matric scholarship, which is a separate scheme with separate conditions.
• Non-regular students, including private candidates not enrolled in a school.
• Students who are not residents of Madhya Pradesh.

What documents are required?

Get the caste certificate and the land record early. In practice these two are what hold up claims in the middle of a session, because both are issued by the revenue side and neither can be produced overnight.

How to apply for the Pre-Matric Scholarship for Backward Class Students

1. Confirm that your child's Samagra member ID is mapped to the school on the state education portal for the current session. An unmapped pupil record cannot be entered for any scholarship.
2. Complete e-KYC, linking Aadhaar with the Samagra record, and check that the name and date of birth match the school record and the marksheet exactly.
3. Obtain the OBC caste certificate, the land holding record and an income certificate or declaration confirming that the parents are not income tax payers.
4. Open a bank account in the student's own name if there is none, and get it Aadhaar-seeded at the branch. Seeding is a separate act from submitting a photocopy of Aadhaar.
5. Submit all documents and the bank passbook copy to the head of the school, who enters and verifies the claim on the state scholarship portal maintained by the Department of Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare.
6. Ask for the acknowledgement or reference number recorded against the claim, and keep it for follow-up.
7. Track the sanction and the credit on the portal with the Samagra ID, and follow up with the school if nothing has moved by the disbursement date.

How to apply offline or with help

1. Meet the class teacher or the school's scholarship in-charge, who normally compiles claims for the whole class in one go. The school, not the family, is the operating unit of this scheme.
2. If the school does not act, approach the District Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Officer at the district headquarters with a written request and copies of the documents.
3. A Common Service Centre or MP Online kiosk can help with e-KYC and status checks. They may charge only the notified service charge, and no operator should be given your passbook or Aadhaar OTP.

How much is paid, and when?

The scholarship is worked out at the monthly rate for the class and gender for 10 months of the session and paid as one instalment, with 30 September stated by the department as the disbursement date. Because the payment is consolidated, a family should not expect small monthly credits, and a single credit landing around the second quarter of the session is the normal pattern.

The head of the educational institution is expressly made responsible for ensuring the amounts reach the pupils' accounts, which is worth knowing when a credit does not appear: the accountable person is inside the school, not at the district office.

How to check status and fix a failed payment

1. Open the state scholarship or education portal and use the scholarship status option.
2. Enter the pupil's Samagra member ID and the academic session.
3. Read the status shown against the scheme, and check the flags for e-KYC and bank account verification.
4. If the claim shows sanctioned but nothing has been credited, compare the account number and IFSC on the portal with the passbook, and ask the bank to confirm Aadhaar seeding.
5. If the claim does not appear at all, the school has not entered it. That is a school-level fix, not a portal fault.

Common reasons a claim is rejected

• Caste certificate missing, expired or from another state.
• Land record shows 10 acres or more, which is a straight disqualification.
• Parents assessed to income tax, which the scheme excludes outright.
• e-KYC not completed on the portal.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, or held in a parent's name.
• Name or date of birth mismatch between Aadhaar, Samagra and the school record.
• Pupil not mapped to the school for the current session.
• School never forwarded the claim, the commonest silent failure of all school-routed scholarships.
• Duplicate claim where the same pupil has been entered twice.

Key dates to watch

There is no permanent statewide last date published for filing. The date that governs the cycle is the department's 30 September disbursement date, which means claims have to be entered and verified in the opening months of the academic session. Practically: get the caste certificate and land record ready before school reopens, complete e-KYC in the first weeks of the session, and ask the school in writing before the end of August whether your child's claim has been entered.

Related schemes to check

• Post-Matric Scholarship for Backward Class Students, run by the same department for class 11 and above, at much higher rates.
• Centrally-sponsored Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students, applied for on the National Scholarship Portal, with different income conditions and higher amounts.
• Integrated scholarship schemes on the Madhya Pradesh education portal, which a pupil may be eligible for at the same time.

Help and grievance redressal

• Head of the school, who is responsible for entering the claim and for disbursement.
• District Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Officer, for claims stuck at school level.
• Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline: 181, for complaints not settled at district level.

Carry the Samagra member ID and the session year to any grievance. No agent can charge a fee for adding a name to a scholarship list, and no official will ask for an Aadhaar OTP.