Post-Matric Scholarship to VJNT Students, Maharashtra

What is the Post-Matric Scholarship to VJNT Students?

Post-Matric Scholarship to VJNT Students is a Government of Maharashtra scholarship for students from the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes communities who have passed Class 10 and gone on to further study. Maharashtra introduced the scheme to stop the drop-off that happens right after matriculation in communities that were historically denomified and remain among the poorest in the state. It is administered by the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, which citizens still commonly call the VJNT, OBC and SBC Welfare Department, and it is disbursed through the state's Direct Benefit Transfer system.

The scholarship works on two tracks that arrive separately. The department pays the recognised tuition fee and examination fee in full to the institute, and it pays the student a monthly maintenance allowance in cash into their own bank account. For a student in an aided degree college the fee component is usually the larger benefit; for a Class 11 student in a junior college the maintenance allowance is the part that actually shows up in the bank.

Eligible VJNT castes are those notified under VJ-A, NT-B, NT-C and NT-D in Maharashtra. The scheme runs from Class 11 through to PhD, covering junior college, diploma, ITI, degree, professional degree and postgraduate study, as long as the institute is recognised by the state or affiliated to a recognised university.

Who is eligible for the VJNT post-matric scholarship?

You can claim the scholarship if:

• You are an Indian citizen and a domicile of Maharashtra.
• You belong to a notified Vimukta Jati or Nomadic Tribe caste and hold a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• Your parents' or guardian's annual income from all sources is Rs 1,50,000 or less.
• You are studying in Class 11 or above in an institute recognised by the Government of Maharashtra or a recognised university.
• You maintain 75 percent attendance in the current academic year.
• You hold a caste validity certificate if your course is a professional degree.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• Your caste is not in the VJNT list. Students of Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Class have their own separate post-matric schemes under the same department, and Scheduled Caste students apply under the Social Justice Department's scheme instead.
• Family income exceeds Rs 1.50 lakh a year.
• You are not domiciled in Maharashtra, even if studying inside the state.
• You are in Class 10 or below, where the pre-matric scholarship applies.
• Your institute or course is not recognised.
• You are already receiving another post-matric scholarship for the same year, whether from the state or the Government of India.
• You are repeating the same year of the same course without an accepted reason.

How much money does the scheme give?

Maintenance allowance is fixed by course group and by whether you live in a recognised hostel:

Group A covers the long professional degrees such as medicine, engineering, agriculture and veterinary science. Group E covers Class 11 and Class 12 and equivalent courses. Alongside the allowance, the department reimburses 100 percent of the tuition and examination fees for government and government-aided institutions. Maintenance is paid for the months of the academic session, not for all twelve months of the year, and the higher hosteller rate is released only when a hostel certificate is on file.

What documents are required for the VJNT scholarship?

How to apply for the Post-Matric Scholarship to VJNT Students

1. Go to mahadbt2.maharashtra.gov.in and pick English or Marathi with the language toggle at the top right of the page.
2. Select Post-Matric Scholarship, open New Application Registration, and register with your Aadhaar number or enrolment ID. Confirm the one-time passwords sent to your mobile number and email.
3. Build your profile — personal details, address, caste and sub-caste, family income, past qualifications, present course and institute, and bank account. MahaDBT 2.0 pulls a large part of this from Aadhaar and the CET Cell records, so read the pre-filled fields and correct them rather than retyping.
4. Upload the documents listed above as clear scans in the sizes the portal accepts.
5. Open All Schemes, filter to the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, choose Post-Matric Scholarship to VJNT Students, and click Apply.
6. Answer the scheme questions, especially hosteller or day-scholar status and the fee amount you have paid, then submit and note the application ID.
7. Take the printout to your institute's scholarship section. The college must verify the application online, after which it goes to the Assistant Commissioner for Social Welfare or the district office for sanction.

How to apply if you cannot fill the form yourself

Maharashtra runs this scheme entirely online, so there is no paper form to post. Students without a computer or a stable connection have three practical routes:

1. The college scholarship section, which is the office that has to verify your application anyway and usually keeps a terminal for this purpose.
2. A Maha e-Seva Kendra or Common Service Centre, where an operator will register and file the application for a small notified fee.
3. The Assistant Commissioner for Social Welfare office in your district, which handles VJNT scheme queries and can direct you to the nearest facility.

How do I check my scholarship status?

Log in to MahaDBT 2.0 and open Track Application, then enter your application ID. The tracker shows four practical states: pending at institute, pending at the district or Assistant Commissioner level, sanctioned, or rejected with a reason recorded. After sanction, a bill is generated and the maintenance allowance moves to your Aadhaar-seeded account by Direct Benefit Transfer, while the fee component goes to the institute.

Why VJNT scholarship applications get rejected

• Income certificate above Rs 1.50 lakh, which is the most frequent single reason, often because the family took an SC-standard certificate of Rs 2.50 lakh.
• Caste validity certificate missing for a professional degree course.
• Attendance below 75 percent, which the institute must certify.
• Institute never verified the application, so it lapsed at the first stage.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, or an account in a parent's name rather than the student's.
• Name mismatch between the caste certificate, Aadhaar and the marksheet.
• Duplicate scholarship already sanctioned for the same year.
• Expired income certificate carried over from a previous financial year.

Most of these are curable in the same academic year if you notice them early. Recheck the tracker fortnightly rather than waiting for a message.

Key dates and the MahaDBT 2.0 switch

Maharashtra migrated its scholarship delivery to MahaDBT 2.0, branded MahaShishyavrutti, and from 1 June 2026 post-matric, pre-matric, Sanjay Gandhi-Shravanbal and CM Vayoshree applications are accepted only on the new portal at mahadbt2.maharashtra.gov.in. The new system cuts the application form from more than 130 fields to about 65 and auto-fetches data from Aadhaar and the CET Cell, so fewer documents have to be uploaded by hand. The 2026-27 window opened on 1 June 2026 with 30 September 2026 published as the closing date. Dates have been extended in past years, so read the portal's notice board before concluding that you have missed the window.

Where do I complain?

• VJNT, OBC and SBC Welfare Department, Annex Building 139, First Floor, Mantralaya, Madam Cama Road, Hutatma Rajguru Chowk, Mumbai 400032.
• Helpline 1800 120 8040 for scheme and application queries.
• Email jdvjnt@maharashtra.gov.in for written grievances.
• Assistant Commissioner for Social Welfare in your district for sanction and payment delays, which is the right office once the college has verified but no bill has been generated.

Applying is free. No one can charge you to add your name to a sanction list, and no official will ever ask you for the one-time password sent to your phone.