Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students

What is the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students?

The Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students is a centrally sponsored scholarship of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for students from Other Backward Classes studying in secondary school. The scheme's purpose is to reduce dropout at the point where it is highest, the two years before the Class 10 board examination, by putting a small, predictable amount of money in the student's own hands.

Readers should know one thing before anything else: this scheme no longer runs under its own name. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment consolidated it, along with the EBC and DNT scholarships and the hostel scheme, into PM-YASASVI, the PM Young Achievers' Scholarship Award Scheme for a Vibrant India. The department's own page describes PM-YASASVI as "an umbrella Scheme formulated for OBC, EBC and DNT Students by clubbing the existing Scholarship Schemes and Hostel Scheme." State welfare departments and the National Scholarship Portal now list the benefit as the pre-matric component of PM-YASASVI, and older notifications that still say "Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students" refer to the same money.

Main features

• Rs 4,000 a year academic allowance for Class 9 and Class 10.
• Family income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh a year from all sources.
• Paid by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own account.
• Centrally funded, administered and paid by state governments.

Who is eligible for the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students?

You are eligible if:

• You belong to the Other Backward Classes as notified in your state's OBC list, with a certificate in your own name.
• Your parents' or guardian's annual income from all sources is up to Rs 2,50,000.
• You are enrolled in Class 9 or Class 10 at a recognised school.
• You passed the previous class.

You cannot apply if:

• You are in Class 8 or below — the central scheme starts at Class 9.
• Your family income exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh a year.
• You hold no valid OBC certificate, or the certificate is in a parent's name rather than yours.
• You failed the preceding class.
• You are already drawing another government scholarship for the same year.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students

1. Check your state social welfare or backward classes welfare department's notification for the current year. Most states route the claim through the National Scholarship Portal; some use their own portal.
2. Open scholarships.gov.in and complete the student's one-time registration (OTR) with Aadhaar and a working mobile number.
3. Log in and select the pre-matric scholarship for OBC students; listed under PM-YASASVI in most states, from the welfare-based schemes for your state.
4. Fill in the student's personal details, OBC category, family income, school name and class.
5. Enter a bank account in the student's own name with the IFSC, since the scholarship is paid by DBT.
6. Upload the OBC certificate, income certificate, previous class marksheet and bonafide certificate, and submit before the closing date.
7. Ask the school to verify the submitted application on the portal. Without school verification the claim never reaches the state.
8. Track the application until the state welfare department sanctions it and the money is credited.

How much does the Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students pay?

The scheme pays a flat Rs 4,000 per year to an eligible OBC student in Class 9 or Class 10, with no difference between day scholars and hostellers.

Before the 2021-22 revision, 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 those two rates with the single Rs 4,000 academic allowance and moved disbursal fully onto Direct Benefit Transfer. Older state circulars and coaching-centre notes still quoting Rs 1,500 or Rs 5,500 are out of date.

Why applications are rejected

• Income certificate showing more than Rs 2.5 lakh or issued by a non-notified authority.
• OBC certificate in a parent's name instead of the student's.
• Bank account not in the student's name or not Aadhaar-seeded.
• School verification not completed before the state's cut-off.
• Student in Class 8 or below, outside the central scheme's coverage.
• Duplicate claim against another government scholarship.

Help and grievance redressal

• National Scholarship Portal helpdesk: 0120-6619540
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment scheme pages: socialjustice.gov.in/schemes/92 and socialjustice.gov.in/schemes/101
• Your state's Social Welfare or Backward Classes Welfare Department, which sanctions and releases the payment

There is no application fee. A school cannot charge for filing or verifying the form, and no agent can get a name onto the sanction list.