Rehabilitation of Cured Leprosy Persons Pre and Post-Matric Scholarship

What is the Rehabilitation of Cured Leprosy Persons scholarship?

Rehabilitation of Cured Leprosy Persons Pre and Post-Matric Scholarship is the fourth of thirteen programme components under the umbrella scheme Rehabilitation of Cured Leprosy Persons, notified by the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Department, Government of Odisha through a resolution dated 23 February 2021 and published in the Odisha Gazette Extraordinary (No. 348, Cuttack, 2 March 2021).

According to the SSEPD resolution, the scheme exists because persons cured of leprosy are "often distanced from the society" and live in a cycle of poverty, homelessness, stigmatisation and exclusion. The resolution records that the Supreme Court of India, hearing the Pankaj Sinha case in 2014, issued several directions to the Union and State Governments for the welfare of cured leprosy persons. Odisha's response was a single mission-mode umbrella scheme rather than scattered one-off grants.

The scholarship component itself is narrow and specific: financial assistance to cured leprosy children and to the children of cured leprosy persons who are studying at the pre- and post-matriculation or post-secondary stage, so that they can complete their education. The scholarships are for studies in India only and are awarded where the applicant is studying.

Where the scholarship sits in the umbrella scheme

The thirteen components are survey and identification, assistive devices, assistance to parents, pre and post-matric scholarship, skill development training, self-employment kit, self-help group support, rehabilitation centres, mainstreaming award, marriage incentives and support, sensitisation of workers and activists, community awareness campaign, and research and documentation. The assistance-to-parents component pays Rs 1,000 per child per month until the child turns 18 and is described in the resolution as a feeder to the scholarship component, the intention is that a child supported from infancy stays in school and then moves onto the scholarship.

How much does the cured leprosy persons scholarship pay?

The SSEPD resolution publishes a four-row rate table. All rates are per month, and eligible students get the scholarship for a maximum of 10 months in an academic year.

The scholarship is payable from the month of admission up to the end of the academic session, including the month of the examination, subject to the 10-month cap. Funds are remitted in advance for the year in question and roll over to the next academic session.

On absence, the resolution is precise: for continued absence not exceeding three months the scholarship is paid in full provided the absence is on health grounds. For prolonged absence without justified reason, the DSSO decides after making an inquiry.

Who is eligible for the cured leprosy persons scholarship?

You can claim the scholarship if all five conditions are met:

• You are a bona fide resident of Odisha.
• You are either a child cured of leprosy or a child of a cured leprosy person.
• You are a regular student of a recognised educational institution.
• Your family income does not exceed Rs 2,40,000 per annum.
• You are not in receipt of any financial assistance from the State or Central Government under any other scheme.

You cannot apply if:

• Nobody in the household has a cured leprosy status. The scheme is not open to the general population and is not a disability scholarship; Odisha runs the separate Banishree Scholarship for students with disabilities.
• You live outside Odisha or are studying outside India. The resolution states these scholarships are for studies in India only.
• Your family income is above Rs 2,40,000 a year.
• You are already drawing a Central or State Government scholarship, stipend or financial aid for the same course. The institution head must certify this point and a duplicate claim will be rejected.
• You are not enrolled as a regular student that the institution can certify.

No caste, gender or age condition is attached to this scholarship. Leprosy status, residence, regular studentship, income and non-duplication are the entire test.

What documents are required?

The prescribed form is Annexure B of the SSEPD resolution — "Application for award of scholarship". It asks for the student's particulars, family income per annum with income certificate enclosed, details of the last examination passed, the course and institution, and details of any scholarship, stipend or financial assistance already being received for the same course. A passport size photograph is affixed on the form.

The institution's counter-certificate is part of the same annexure. It records that the student is a regular student on the rolls and states either that the student is receiving a scholarship from a named source or that no scholarship, financial aid or stipend is being received from any other source. That single line is what the DSSO checks first.

Proof of cured leprosy status is the other essential attachment. The scheme's own survey and identification component provides for issuing the required certificates and multipurpose smart cards to cured leprosy persons, so if a certificate has not yet been issued, ask the DSSO office to route you through that component before filing the scholarship claim.

How to apply for the cured leprosy persons scholarship

This is an offline, institution-routed scholarship. There is no self-service online form for it on the SSEPD portal.

1. Establish cured leprosy status. Get the medical certificate for yourself or your parent. If no certificate exists, approach the District Social Security Officer, whose office handles survey, identification and certification under the same umbrella scheme.
2. Obtain and complete Annexure B. Collect the prescribed scholarship application form from your institution or the DSSO office, fill in every field and affix a passport size photograph.
3. Attach the supporting papers. Enclose the leprosy cure certificate, income certificate, residence proof, last examination mark sheet and certificate, and a copy of the bank passbook.
4. Submit through the head of institution immediately after admission. The resolution requires the application to be submitted through the head of institution immediately after taking admission, not at the end of the year.
5. Institution verifies and recommends. The head of institution checks the information against the records, certifies the no-other-scholarship position and forwards the application to the concerned DSSO with a recommendation.
6. DSSO scrutiny and Collector's sanction. The DSSO scrutinises the applications, gets them sanctioned by the Collector as per rules, and places the block-wise and ULB-wise fund requirement with the SSEPD Department by the end of September.
7. Bank account and payment. The DSSO or institution head ensures the correct account exists, the candidate's own account if 18 or above, a joint account with father, mother or guardian if below 18. The department releases funds and the DSSO remits the scholarship directly to the student.

How do I check my application status?

Follow up with the District Social Security Officer of your district. The DSSO holds the sanction file, the Collector's approval and the remittance record. The resolution also requires DSSOs to make online entry of data on assisted students, including their passing out from the course, so the office should be able to tell you whether your case has been entered and sanctioned.

Two internal deadlines help you time the follow-up. DSSOs must place the fund requirement with the department by the end of September, and must submit the utilisation certificate with proof of remittance, countersigned by the Collector, by 28 February each year. If your file misses the September requirement it will normally be carried to the next release, and the resolution directs that undisbursed balances be rolled over and used first.

Why applications get rejected

• No proof of cured leprosy status. Without the medical certificate for the student or the parent, the claim fails at the first check.
• Income certificate above Rs 2,40,000. Family income is the test, not the student's own income.
• Another Government scholarship already running. This scholarship does not stack on any Central or State scheme for the same course.
• Application not routed through the institution. A form submitted directly to the DSSO without the head of institution's verification and recommendation is not taken into the sanction chain.
• Wrong bank account. Students under 18 need a joint account with a parent or guardian; students 18 or above need an account in their own name.
• Filed too late in the academic year. Applying after the DSSO has already sent the September fund requirement pushes payment into the following cycle.

Key dates and grievance route

The scheme has been in force since the resolution of 23 February 2021, published in the Odisha Gazette on 2 March 2021. There is no advertised annual last date. The operative rule is to apply immediately after admission, with the DSSO's end-of-September fund requirement and the 28 February utilisation certificate as the fixed points in the year.

For grievances, escalate from the head of institution to the District Social Security Officer, then to the District Collector who is the sanctioning authority, and finally to the SSEPD Department, Lal Building, Lok Seva Bhawan, Bhubaneswar 751001, telephone 0674-2392803, email ssepdsec.od@od.gov.in. The state's common grievance portal, Jana Sunani, can be used to lodge a written complaint if the district level does not respond.