Vasantrao Naik Merit Awards to VJNT Students Who Stood First in the State or First in the Board in the 10th and 12th Standard Examination

What is the Vasantrao Naik Merit Award?

Vasantrao Naik Merit Award is a Government of Maharashtra prize for students of the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) category who top the state's Class 10 (SSC) or Class 12 (HSC) board examination. The award is named after Vasantrao Naik, the Maharashtra chief minister who himself came from a Banjara nomadic tribe community and who is closely associated with the state's early welfare programmes for VJNT groups.

The award exists for one declared purpose: to motivate VJNT students to continue into higher education. Communities in the Vimukta Jati (denotified tribes) and Nomadic Tribes categories have historically had among the lowest school completion rates in Maharashtra, and a highly visible, high-value prize for the very top performers is used both as a reward and as a signal to younger students in those communities.

The award has three parts: a cash prize, a trophy and a certificate. Unlike a scholarship, it is a one-time honour tied to a single examination result rather than a recurring payment across a course.

How much is the Vasantrao Naik Merit Award worth?

One boy student and one girl student are honoured at each level. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education conducts the SSC and HSC examinations through nine divisional boards: Pune, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Mumbai, Kolhapur, Amravati, Nashik, Latur and Konkan, and the Rs 51,000 prize is anchored to the first rank within a division, while the Rs 1,00,000 prize goes to the first rank across the whole state.

Because eligibility depends on a first rank, the number of awardees in any year is very small. This is not a broad-based scholarship, and a VJNT student with good but not first-rank marks should look instead at the VJNT post-matric scholarship and the tuition and examination fee reimbursement scheme, both delivered through MahaDBT.

Who is eligible for the Vasantrao Naik Merit Award?

A student qualifies if:

• The student belongs to the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes category notified in Maharashtra, and holds a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• The student stood first in the state or first in a divisional board in the Class 10 (SSC) or Class 12 (HSC) examination.
• The student appeared through a Maharashtra board and is a resident of the state.
• The result is from the current award year's examination.

A student is not eligible if:

• The student does not belong to the VJNT category. Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, OBC, SBC and open category students cannot apply for this particular award, though parallel merit awards exist for some other categories.
• The student did not secure a first rank at state or divisional board level. A second or third rank does not qualify, however narrow the margin.
• The examination was taken through a board outside Maharashtra, such as CBSE or ICSE, since the selection list comes from the Maharashtra State Board.
• The student cannot produce a valid caste certificate for a notified VJNT community.

There is no published family income ceiling for this award. It is a merit prize, not a means-tested scholarship.

How to apply for the Vasantrao Naik Merit Award

The department's own description of this scheme is unusual and worth reading carefully: there is no separate public application procedure. The steps below describe what actually happens and what a student should do.

1. Appear for the SSC or HSC examination through a Maharashtra State Board school or junior college, having declared your VJNT category in the school record and the examination form. If your category is not recorded correctly with the school, you will not appear on the department's list at all: fix this before the examination, not after the result.
2. Wait for the board result. The Director of the State Board of SSC and HSC supplies the department with the list of VJNT students who passed, and the selection of awardees is made on the basis of the marks obtained in that examination.
3. Respond when the department or your school contacts you. A shortlisted student is asked to furnish the caste certificate, marksheet, domicile certificate, Aadhaar and bank account details so that the prize money can be transferred and the trophy and certificate presented.
4. Keep an Aadhaar-seeded bank account ready in the student's own name. The prize is paid electronically, and an unseeded or dormant account delays the transfer.
5. Check the MahaDBT portal at mahadbt.maharashtra.gov.in under the VJNT, OBC and SBC welfare department schemes if a formal online submission is opened in a particular year. MahaDBT is the single window for VJNT student schemes in Maharashtra, and any application step for this award would be routed there.

What documents will be asked for?

How do I check the status of the award?

1. Ask your school or junior college first. The board and the department route the shortlist through the institution, and the head of the institution is normally the first to be informed.
2. Contact the Assistant Director or Regional Deputy Director of the VJNT, OBC and SBC welfare department in your division for confirmation of the award list.
3. Call the department helpline on 1800-120-8040, the number published for the VJNT, OBC and SBC welfare department, or write to jdvjnt@maharashtra.gov.in.

Why an eligible student can still miss the award

• Caste recorded incorrectly in the school and board records, so the student never appears on the VJNT list supplied by the board.
• No caste certificate obtained, or a certificate that names a community not notified as VJNT in Maharashtra.
• Caste validity certificate not obtained in time, where the department asks for it.
• Rank shared or revised after a re-evaluation, which changes the shortlist.
• Bank account not seeded with Aadhaar, delaying the transfer even after sanction.
• Appeared through a non-Maharashtra board, which places the student outside the selection list entirely.

Other schemes a VJNT student should look at

Vasantrao Naik Merit Award reaches only a handful of students each year. VJNT students who do not top the board should check these, all administered by the same department through MahaDBT:

• Tuition Fees and Examination Fees to VJNT Students — reimbursement of compulsory tuition, examination and other admissible fees for post-matric courses, subject to a family income ceiling.
• Post-Matric Scholarship to VJNT Students: maintenance allowance and fee support for students from Class 11 upwards.
• Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Meritorious Scholarship for VJNT and SBC students in Class 11 and 12.
• Vasantrao Naik Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes Development Corporation schemes, which provide education loans and self-employment finance.

Where do I get help?

• Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra, obcbahujankalyan.maharashtra.gov.in
• Departmental helpline: 1800-120-8040
• Email: jdvjnt@maharashtra.gov.in
• MahaDBT portal: mahadbt.maharashtra.gov.in for all VJNT student schemes
• Divisional Deputy Director or district Assistant Director of the VJNT, OBC and SBC welfare department for award-list queries

No fee is payable at any stage. Nobody can arrange this award for you, it is decided by rank in the board examination.