Pre-Matric Scholarship for the Students of Socially and Educationally Backward Class

What is the Gujarat pre-matric scholarship for SEBC students?

Pre-Matric Scholarship for the Students of Socially and Educationally Backward Class is a Government of Gujarat scholarship administered by the Director, Developing Castes Welfare, under the state's Social Justice and Empowerment Department. On the department's own pages the scheme is listed as the Pre S.S.C Scholarship for SEBC, EBC and Minority students, and readers who search for it as Pre-SSC shishyavrutti will find the same benefit.

The purpose is narrow and practical: to keep children from Socially and Educationally Backward Classes in school through the ten years before the Secondary School Certificate examination, by covering a part of the recurring cost of books, uniforms, stationery and travel.

According to the Digital Gujarat scholarship listing, the benefit runs at Rs 750 a year for boys in Standards 1 to 8, Rs 1,000 a year for boys in Standards 9 and 10, Rs 500 a year for girls in Standards 1 to 5, and Rs 1,000 a year for girls in Standards 6 to 10. Older rate tables published by the Directorate of Developing Castes Welfare list lower figures, so the amount credited in any given year is the one notified for that academic year; treat Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 as the working range and confirm the current rate on the portal before applying.

The scheme is large. The directorate's own coverage note records the pre-SSC scholarship reaching over 28 lakh students across the SEBC, EBC and minority categories in a single year, with SEBC students the largest group at roughly 20.9 lakh beneficiaries.

Key features

• State-funded scholarship, distinct from the Government of India's pre-matric scholarships for SC, ST and minority students.
• Paid annually, by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account.
• No income ceiling for Standards 1 to 8, which makes it one of the widest school scholarships in Gujarat.
• Applied for online through Digital Gujarat, the state's single scholarship platform, which consolidates more than 30 schemes of the Social Welfare Department, the Tribal Development Department and the Directorate of Technical Education.

Who is eligible for the pre-matric SEBC scholarship?

A student can be considered if:

• The student belongs to a Socially and Educationally Backward Class notified by the Government of Gujarat and holds a valid SEBC caste certificate.
• The student is a resident of Gujarat studying in a recognised school in the state.
• The student is enrolled in Standard 1 to Standard 10.
• For Standards 9 and 10, annual family income does not exceed Rs 47,000 in rural areas or Rs 68,000 in urban areas.
• The student maintains the attendance the institute certifies at verification.

A student is not eligible if:

• The family holds no Gujarat SEBC certificate. Students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes cannot apply here; they have separate pre-matric schemes under the Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare and the Tribal Development Department respectively.
• The student has already passed Standard 10. This is a pre-matric benefit, and Standard 11 onwards is covered by post-matric schemes.
• Family income for a Standard 9 or 10 student exceeds the rural or urban limit above.
• The student is studying outside Gujarat.
• The same student has drawn the same scholarship twice in one academic year, or is drawing another scholarship the state treats as non-combinable for the same year.

What documents are required?

Scan every document cleanly. Blurred or cropped uploads are the single largest cause of an application being sent back by the institute for correction, and a correction cycle can push the file past the closing date.

How to apply for the Gujarat pre-matric SEBC scholarship

1. Open digitalgujarat.gov.in and choose New Registration if you do not already have a Digital Gujarat account. Register with the student's mobile number and email, and verify the OTP.
2. Log in and open the Citizen Services / Scholarship section, then select the pre-matric scholarship scheme for SEBC students for the current academic year.
3. Fill the personal details, name exactly as on the Aadhaar card, date of birth, caste category, and the district and taluka of residence.
4. Fill the academic details, school name, school code, current standard, and the previous year's result.
5. Enter the bank details — account number and IFSC. The account must be in the student's name or a joint account with a parent, and it must be Aadhaar-seeded for DBT to succeed.
6. Upload the documents, caste certificate, Aadhaar, bank passbook, bonafide certificate, previous mark sheet, photograph, and the income certificate if the student is in Standard 9 or 10.
7. Submit the application and note the application number shown on screen.
8. Take the printout to the school for institute verification. An application the school has not verified does not move forward, however complete it looks on the portal.

How to apply offline or with help

Students without a computer or reliable internet can complete the same application at a Common Service Centre, at the school's computer laboratory with the class teacher's help, or at the office of the Social Welfare Officer in the district. The form and the document set are identical; only the point of entry changes. No fee is payable for the application itself, although a CSC may charge a small notified service charge for assisted data entry.

How to check the scholarship status

1. Log in to digitalgujarat.gov.in with the registered mobile number.
2. Open My Applications and locate the application number for the current year.
3. Read the stage shown against it, submitted, pending with institute, verified, sanctioned or paid.
4. If it shows pending with institute for weeks, the school has not yet forwarded it. Follow up with the school clerk rather than resubmitting, since a second application creates a duplicate that is later rejected.

Once the status reads paid, check the bank passbook. If the portal shows paid but no credit appears, the usual cause is a wrong IFSC or an account that is dormant or not Aadhaar-seeded.

Why pre-matric scholarship applications get rejected

• Caste certificate not in the SEBC list or issued by an authority outside Gujarat.
• Income certificate missing for Standard 9 or 10, or income above the Rs 47,000 rural and Rs 68,000 urban limits.
• Name mismatch between the school record, the Aadhaar card and the bank account.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT transfer fails even after sanction.
• Institute verification not completed before the closing date.
• Duplicate application for the same student in the same year.
• Illegible uploads, especially of the caste certificate.

Most of these are fixable. The portal allows an application returned for correction to be re-submitted within the window, so watch the status weekly during the application season rather than checking once at the end.

Key dates for the academic year

Gujarat opens its pre-matric scholarship window each academic year on Digital Gujarat, typically from around June or July, with closing dates falling between September and November depending on the scheme and any extension notified. In the 2025-26 cycle, pre-matric deadlines were extended to 15 September 2025. Because extensions are issued category by category, the closing date shown against your specific scheme on digitalgujarat.gov.in is the only one that governs your application. Late or incomplete applications are rejected outright.

Where to get help

• Digital Gujarat helpline: 1800-233-5500.
• Gujarat State Scholarship Portal: digitalgujarat.gov.in/GSSP/
• Director, Developing Castes Welfare, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Gandhinagar: phone 079-23253245.
• District Social Welfare Officer for grievances about verification or non-payment after sanction.

The application is free. No agent is needed, and no one can guarantee a sanction in exchange for a fee.