State Government ST Scholarship (Class 9 to 10)

What is the State Government ST Scholarship for Class 9 and 10?

The State Government ST Scholarship (Class 9 to 10) is a pre-matric scholarship of the Tribal Affairs Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh. On the state's own scheme lists it appears in Hindi as Pre Matric Rajya Chhatravritti Kaksha 9 se 10, run entirely on state funds and shown separately from the centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship for the same two classes.

According to the national myScheme portal, the scholarship pays Rs 600 per year to boys and Rs 1,300 per year to girls. Money is transferred directly into the student's bank account.

Key features

• Covers Class 9 and Class 10 only.
• No family income ceiling, unlike the centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship.
• Higher rate for girls: Rs 1,300 against Rs 600, a deliberate incentive to keep tribal girls in school through the two years when drop-out is highest.
• Delivered through the MP Education Portal (shikshaportal.mp.gov.in), the single system the School Education Department uses for all student benefits.
• Paid by Direct Benefit Transfer, not through the school.

Classes 9 and 10 are the pinch point in tribal education in Madhya Pradesh. A student who reaches Class 9 has already cleared the years covered by the state's Class 1 to 8 scholarship; the two years to the board examination bring uniform, book, examination and travel costs at exactly the age when a household is most tempted to put a child to work. The scholarship is small in absolute terms, but it is unconditional on income and it lands in the student's own account, which is the point.

Who is eligible for the Class 9 to 10 ST scholarship?

A student qualifies if:

• The student belongs to a Scheduled Tribe notified in Madhya Pradesh and holds a valid ST caste certificate.
• The student is a native of Madhya Pradesh.
• The student is enrolled as a regular student in Class 9 or Class 10.
• The school is recognised and the student is mapped on the MP Education Portal with a valid Samagra ID.
• A bank account exists in the student's name, or jointly with a parent, and is Aadhaar-seeded.

There is no annual family income limit. A tribal family that pays income tax is as eligible as one below the poverty line, because the scheme's purpose is retention in school rather than income support.

A student is not eligible if:

• The student is not from a Scheduled Tribe. Scheduled Caste students are covered by the parallel State Government SC Scholarship, and OBC students by the Backward Classes Welfare Department schemes.
• The student is not a native of Madhya Pradesh, even if studying in a Madhya Pradesh school.
• The student is in Class 8 or below, that is the separate State Government ST Scholarship for Classes 1 to 8 to or in Class 11 or above, which falls under the post matric scholarship.
• The student is not a regular student, for example a private or correspondence candidate not enrolled at a recognised school.
• The ST caste certificate cannot be validated against the Madhya Pradesh caste certificate database.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Class 9 to 10 ST scholarship

1. Make sure the student has a Samagra ID. Search the family on samagra.gov.in. If the student has no 9-digit member ID, get the entry made at the Gram Panchayat, ward office or a Lok Seva Kendra.
2. Get the ST caste certificate. Apply through MP e-District or a Lok Seva Kendra if the family does not already hold one, and check that it appears in the state's online caste certificate record.
3. Open a bank account for the student and complete Aadhaar seeding at the branch. A minor's account jointly held with a parent is acceptable, but the Aadhaar seeding must be done.
4. Hand the documents to the school principal. Give the school the caste certificate, Samagra ID, Aadhaar number and bank account details. The principal is the person who files the claim.
5. The principal enters the details on the MP Education Portal (shikshaportal.mp.gov.in), mapping the student to the school, class and category for the current academic session. The scholarship is generated from this entry: there is no separate student application form.
6. Verify the entry. Search the student's Samagra ID on the Education Portal and confirm the class, category and bank details are correct before the session's data is locked.
7. Repeat next year. The claim must be filed again when the student moves from Class 9 to Class 10.

How this differs from the centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship

Madhya Pradesh runs two pre-matric scholarships for Scheduled Tribe students in Classes 9 and 10, and they are shown as separate budget heads on the state's own scheme dashboard: the state scholarship described on this page, and a centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship for Classes 9 to 10 funded largely by the Government of India.

The practical differences matter to a family deciding what to chase:

• The state scholarship carries no income limit. The centrally sponsored pre-matric scholarship applies an annual family income ceiling set by the Government of India.
• The rates differ, and the centrally sponsored scheme distinguishes day scholars from hostellers, which the state scheme does not.
• Both are filed by the school on the MP Education Portal, so the family does the same thing either way.

A student is normally sanctioned under one head, not both. If your school tells you a claim was filed but the amount received does not match Rs 600 or Rs 1,300, the claim was very likely filed under the centrally sponsored head. Ask the principal which scheme code was used before assuming a shortfall.

How to check the scholarship status

1. Open shikshaportal.mp.gov.in.
2. Use the student benefit or scholarship status search.
3. Enter the student's Samagra ID and submit.
4. The result shows the scheme the student was sanctioned under, the class, the amount and the bank account credited.

Why the scholarship does not arrive

• Caste certificate not validated in the state database, a paper certificate alone is not enough.
• Samagra ID missing or mismatched with the school record. A spelling difference between the Samagra name and the school register is enough to stop the mapping.
• Aadhaar e-KYC incomplete on the Education Portal.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the Direct Benefit Transfer fails after sanction.
• School has not completed data entry for the session, or has entered the student under the wrong category.
• Class changed but not updated. The most common reason a Class 10 student who was paid in Class 9 receives nothing.

Almost every failure here is a data problem rather than an eligibility problem, and almost all of it is fixed at the school, not at a government office.

Where to get help

• School principal. The first and usually the only stop, because the claim is filed by the school.
• District Education Officer (DEO) if the school does not act.
• Assistant Commissioner or District Organiser, Tribal Affairs, at the district headquarters, for category and sanction disputes.
• Tribal Affairs Department helpdesk: 1800-2333-951, helpdesk.tribal@mp.gov.in
• CM Helpline 181 for complaints about delay.

The scholarship costs nothing to claim. No school, teacher or agent may charge a fee for entering a student's name on the Education Portal.