Pre-Matric Scholarships to the Children of Those Engaged in Occupations Involving Cleaning and Prone to Health Hazards

What is the Pre-Matric Scholarship for children in hazardous cleaning occupations?

The Pre-Matric Scholarships to the Children of Those Engaged in Occupations Involving Cleaning and Prone to Health Hazards is a Central Sector scheme of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. According to the Department, the scheme has been running since 1977-78 to help the children of sanitation and cleaning workers stay in school through the pre-matric stage, from Class 1 to Class 10.

The scheme is unusual in that it is not caste-based; eligibility depends on the parent's or guardian's occupation, not the family's community. It covers the children of manual scavengers, tanners, flayers, waste-pickers and other persons engaged in hazardous cleaning, so that the burden of these dangerous, low-income occupations is not passed on to the next generation through school dropout.

Financial support is modest but targeted. Day scholars in Classes 1 to 10 receive Rs 110 per month for ten months plus an ad-hoc grant of Rs 750 per annum. Hostellers in Classes 3 to 10 receive Rs 700 per month for ten months plus an ad-hoc grant of Rs 1,000 per annum. Additional allowances apply for disabled students, a reader allowance of Rs 100 per month for blind students in Classes 3 to 10, and a transport allowance of Rs 50 per month for disabled students not living in a hostel.

Key features

• Occupation-based, not caste-based; open irrespective of caste or religion.
• Covers Classes 1 to 10 (hosteller rate from Class 3).
• Day scholar: Rs 110/month for 10 months + Rs 750 ad-hoc grant.
• Hosteller: Rs 700/month for 10 months + Rs 1,000 ad-hoc grant.
• Extra reader and transport allowances for eligible disabled students.

Who is eligible for this Pre-Matric Scholarship?

You can apply if:

• The child is studying full-time in Class 1 to 10 (the hosteller benefit applies from Class 3).
• The parent or guardian is engaged in a covered occupation, a manual scavenger as defined under Section 2(1)(g) of the Manual Scavengers Act 2013, a tanner, a flayer, a waste-picker, or a person engaged in hazardous cleaning as defined under Section 2(1)(d) of the same Act.
• You can obtain an occupation certificate from the District Social Welfare Officer or another authority designated by the State Government.

Eligibility is irrespective of caste or religion. Adopted children qualify after three years of residence with adoptive parents engaged in these occupations.

You cannot apply if:

• The child is not in Classes 1 to 10 — the scheme is pre-matric only, so college and post-matric students are not eligible here.
• No parent or guardian works in one of the covered hazardous cleaning occupations, or you cannot obtain the required occupation certificate.
• The student is not enrolled full-time in a recognised school.

What documents are required for this Pre-Matric Scholarship?

How to apply for this Pre-Matric Scholarship

1. Obtain the occupation certificate for the parent or guardian from the District Social Welfare Officer, local body, civic agency or the authority designated by your State Government.
2. Register the student on the National Scholarship Portal at scholarships.gov.in during the open application window, using an Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
3. Select the pre-matric scholarship for children in hazardous cleaning occupations and fill in the student's school, class and family details.
4. Upload the documents: occupation certificate, enrolment proof, Aadhaar and Aadhaar-seeded bank passbook, and the adoption certificate if applicable.
5. Submit the application and note the application ID. The school and the State nodal authority verify the claim, after which the scholarship is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer.

Some States and Union Territories route this scholarship through their own social welfare departments in addition to, or instead of, the National Scholarship Portal, so confirm the exact channel with your school or District Social Welfare Officer before applying.

How much benefit does this Pre-Matric Scholarship provide?

The core benefit is a monthly scholarship for ten months a year, Rs 110 for day scholars in Classes 1 to 10, and Rs 700 for hostellers in Classes 3 to 10, plus an annual ad-hoc grant of Rs 750 for day scholars and Rs 1,000 for hostellers. Over a full academic year, a hosteller therefore receives Rs 7,000 in monthly scholarship plus the Rs 1,000 grant, while a day scholar receives Rs 1,100 plus the Rs 750 grant.

Disabled students receive additional support: a reader allowance of Rs 100 per month for blind students in Classes 3 to 10, and a transport allowance of Rs 50 per month for disabled students who do not live in a hostel. All amounts are paid by Direct Benefit Transfer into an Aadhaar-seeded bank account.

Help and where to check details

For technical problems with the online application, the National Scholarship Portal helpdesk can be reached at 0120-6619540 or through scholarships.gov.in. Scheme details, covered occupations and current rates are published by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment on socialjustice.gov.in. There is no fee to apply, and no agent can secure the scholarship on your behalf: everything runs through the official portal and your school or District Social Welfare Officer.

How to check your application status

1. Go to scholarships.gov.in and open the Fresh/Renewal Login for students, not the institute or department login.
2. Log in with the application ID and password created at the time of registration. If you have forgotten the password, use the "Forgot Password" link, which sends a reset OTP to the Aadhaar-linked mobile number on file.
3. Once logged in, check the Application Status tab. The portal shows the application at one of several stages: submitted to institute, verified by institute, forwarded to the District Social Welfare Officer or State nodal department, sanctioned, or disbursed.
4. If the status shows "pending at institute" for an unusually long time, contact the school directly, since the institute must verify enrolment and the occupation certificate before the application moves forward. The portal itself cannot push a stalled verification.
5. If the status shows "pending at State" beyond the State's own processing window, follow up with the District Social Welfare Officer's office, since disbursement sanctioning happens at the State/UT level even though the National Scholarship Portal handles the online workflow.
6. Once the application is sanctioned, disbursement happens by Direct Benefit Transfer. Check the linked Aadhaar-seeded bank account statement, or the DBT Bharat portal (dbtbharat.gov.in), to confirm credit rather than relying only on the NSP status label, since a "sanctioned" status can lag the actual transfer by some weeks.
7. For issues the school or district office cannot resolve, such as a portal error or a payment not reflecting despite a sanctioned status, call the NSP helpdesk at 0120-6619540 with the application ID ready.

Renewal applicants in Class 2 and above should check status each year separately: this scholarship is not auto-renewed, and a fresh renewal application must be submitted and tracked every academic year through the same login.

Common reasons for rejection

• Occupation certificate not accepted or missing. The certificate must come from the District Social Welfare Officer, a local body, civic agency, or another authority specifically designated by the State Government to certify that the parent or guardian is a manual scavenger, tanner, flayer, waste-picker, or engaged in hazardous cleaning as defined under the Manual Scavengers Act 2013. A self-declaration, an employer letter, or a certificate from an unauthorised office is routinely rejected. Fix: apply to the correct designated authority in advance of the NSP window, since this certificate can take longer to obtain than the application itself.
• Aadhaar not seeded to the bank account used for DBT. Since the benefit is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer, an application linked to a bank account where Aadhaar is not seeded will be sanctioned but the payment will fail or bounce back. Fix: get the bank account Aadhaar-seeded before applying, and verify seeding status directly with the bank rather than assuming Aadhaar-linked mobile number registration is the same thing.
• Mismatch between Aadhaar details and school records. A difference in the spelling of the student's name, date of birth, or gender between the Aadhaar card and the school enrolment certificate is a common cause of verification failure at the institute stage. Fix: correct the discrepancy at the Aadhaar enrolment centre or with the school before submitting, since corrections after submission require re-verification and delay the application into the next cycle.
• Application submitted after the window closes, or renewal not filed every year. The National Scholarship Portal opens for a limited period each academic year, and a late submission is not accepted outside that window. Similarly, families sometimes assume the scholarship continues automatically after the first year; it does not; a renewal application is needed for each class the child progresses to. Fix: track the NSP announcement dates through the school and file both fresh and renewal applications as soon as the portal opens.
• Student not enrolled full-time, or in a class outside the covered range. The scheme covers full-time students in Classes 1 to 10 only, with the hosteller rate starting from Class 3; part-time, correspondence, or dropped-out students, and students above Class 10, do not qualify and are rejected at verification. Fix: confirm the child's enrolment status and class with the school before applying.
• Adopted child's residence period not met or not documented. An adopted child is eligible only after three years of residence with adoptive parents engaged in a covered occupation, and this requires an adoption certificate alongside the standard documents. An application filed before the three-year mark, or without the adoption certificate, is rejected. Fix: wait until the residence requirement is met and attach the adoption certificate at the time of application.
• Duplicate application across schemes or portals. Since some States route this scholarship through their own social welfare department in parallel with the National Scholarship Portal, a student registered on both without withdrawing one can be flagged for duplication and both applications held up. Fix: apply through only one channel for a given academic year, and confirm with the District Social Welfare Officer which channel is authoritative in your State before applying twice.