Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students (PM-YASASVI)

What is the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students?

The Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students is a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment that helps students from backward communities complete secondary school. According to the department's scheme page, it is a component of PM-YASASVI, the PM Young Achievers' Scholarship Award Scheme for a Vibrant India, which the ministry describes as "an umbrella Scheme formulated for OBC, EBC and DNT Students by clubbing the existing Scholarship Schemes and Hostel Scheme."

Three categories are covered: Other Backward Classes (OBC), Economically Backward Classes (EBC) and De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNT). All three draw the same rate under the same income ceiling.

The purpose is narrow and specific: keep students in school through the two years that carry the highest dropout risk, Class 9 and Class 10, so that they reach the board examination and become eligible for post-matric support.

Main features

• Rs 4,000 a year academic allowance, paid to the student.
• Covers Class 9 and Class 10 only in the centrally funded scheme.
• Family income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh a year.
• Payment by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own Aadhaar-seeded account.
• Centrally sponsored. The Centre funds it, state governments select beneficiaries and release payment.

Who is eligible for the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students?

You are eligible if:

• You belong to the OBC, EBC or DNT category and hold a valid certificate in your own name from the competent authority in your state.
• Your parents' or guardian's annual income from all sources is up to Rs 2,50,000.
• You are studying in Class 9 or Class 10 in a recognised school.
• You passed the previous class — Class 8 for a Class 9 applicant, Class 9 for a Class 10 applicant.

You cannot apply if:

• You are studying in Class 8 or below. The central scheme does not cover Classes 1 to 8; those are a state responsibility.
• Your family income exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh a year.
• You do not hold a valid OBC, EBC or DNT certificate.
• You failed the previous class.
• You are already receiving another scholarship from a government source for the same year of study.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students

1. Open the National Scholarship Portal at scholarships.gov.in during the application window announced for the academic year.
2. Complete the one-time registration (OTR) using the student's Aadhaar number and a working mobile number.
3. Log in as a student and select Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students from the welfare-based schemes listed for your state.
4. Fill in the student's details, category, family income, school name and class.
5. Enter a bank account in the student's own name, with IFSC, this account receives the DBT payment.
6. Upload the caste certificate, income certificate, previous class marksheet and bonafide certificate, then submit before the closing date.
7. Ask the school to verify the application on the portal. An application the school has not verified is never forwarded to the state welfare department.
8. Track the application until the state welfare department sanctions it and the amount is credited.

Some states do not use the National Scholarship Portal for this scheme and instead operate their own social welfare or backward classes welfare portal, in which case the school submits the claim there. Check your state welfare department's notification before you file; applying on the wrong portal is the single most common reason a genuine claim is never processed.

How much benefit does the scheme provide?

The scheme pays a flat academic allowance of Rs 4,000 per year to every eligible student in Class 9 and Class 10, regardless of whether the student is a day scholar or a hosteller.

This flat rate came from the 2021-22 revision of the scheme. Before that, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment paid Rs 1,500 a year to day scholars and Rs 5,500 a year to hostellers. The revision replaced both with a single Rs 4,000 figure and moved payment onto Direct Benefit Transfer, so no part of the scholarship passes through the school.

Why applications are rejected

• Income certificate above Rs 2.5 lakh, or issued by an authority the state does not recognise.
• Caste certificate in a parent's name rather than the student's.
• Bank account not in the student's name, or not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT transfer fails.
• School verification missed before the state's cut-off date.
• Student is in Class 8 or below, which the central scheme does not cover.
• Duplicate claim against another government scholarship for the same year.

Help and grievance redressal

• National Scholarship Portal helpdesk: 0120-6619540
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment scheme page: socialjustice.gov.in/schemes/101
• Your state's Social Welfare or Backward Classes Welfare Department, which sanctions and pays the scholarship

Applying is free. Schools cannot charge for filing or verifying a scholarship application, and no agent can get a name added to the sanction list.