Award of Scholarship to Differently Abled Person Students

What is the Award of Scholarship to Differently Abled Person Students?

The Award of Scholarship to Differently Abled Person Students is a scholarship scheme of the Directorate of Social Welfare, Government of Puducherry. According to the Directorate's manual, the scheme has been implemented since 1980 "for providing scholarship to the differently abled persons who are students for enabling them to secure education", and the assistance extends to students with disabilities "studying from I Std upto PG/ Professional courses".

The scheme is a state scheme, funded and administered by the union territory. It runs in parallel with two Central Sector schemes, the pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for students with disabilities, which are implemented directly by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities through an online scholarship management programme. Those central schemes carry much larger sums and a far higher income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh, but they cover narrower stages of study. The state scheme's distinguishing feature is its reach: it starts at Class 1, which the central pre-matric scholarship does not.

Who is eligible for the scholarship, and who is not?

You can apply if:

• Your disability is 40 per cent or above, certified by the competent medical authority.
• Your annual income does not exceed Rs 75,000, certified by the Revenue Department.
• You have resided in the union territory of Puducherry for five years or more.
• You are at least five years old, the minimum age the Directorate records.
• You are studying in a covered stage — Class 1 up to postgraduate and professional courses.

You cannot apply if:

• Your certified disability is below 40 per cent.
• Your certified family income is above Rs 75,000. This is a much tighter ceiling than the central schemes' Rs 2.5 lakh, and it is the condition that excludes most applicants.
• You have lived in the union territory for less than five years.
• You are not enrolled in a course. The scholarship follows current study, not a completed qualification, and lapses in a year when the student is not attending.
• You are already drawing another government scholarship for the same course. Declare any other scholarship rather than risk recovery.

The scheme does not restrict itself to government institutions. What the Directorate verifies is the student's disability, income, residence and current enrolment, evidenced by a bonafide certificate.

How much does the scholarship pay at each stage?

According to the Directorate of Social Welfare's departmental manual, the state scholarship is granted at the following annual rates:

The rate is fixed by the class or course the student is currently in, which is why a current bonafide certificate is part of every application and every renewal. A student moving from Class 8 to Class 9 moves from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,400 for that year.

Some third-party listings present these figures as monthly amounts. They are annual rates in the Directorate's own manual. Treat the yearly figures above as the correct ones.

For comparison, the Central Sector pre-matric scholarship for students with disabilities pays, inclusive of maintenance, disability and book allowances, Rs 14,600 a year for a hosteller and Rs 11,000 for a day scholar with visual impairment or intellectual disability, and Rs 12,600 and Rs 9,000 respectively for hearing impairment, physical disability and other disabilities, for regular full-time students in Class 9 or 10, with an income ceiling of Rs 2.5 lakh. The Central Sector post-matric scholarship adds a disability allowance of Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 a year depending on the disability, a book allowance of Rs 1,500 a year, a maintenance allowance and reimbursement of compulsory non-refundable fees up to a ceiling of Rs 1.5 lakh a year. A student who fits those schemes should look at them seriously.

How to apply for the differently abled students' scholarship

1. Get the disability certificate. Obtain it from the competent medical authority showing 40 per cent or more disability. Renew it if it was issued for a fixed period that has expired.
2. Obtain the income and residence certificates from the Revenue Department. The income certificate must show an annual income within Rs 75,000, and the residence certificate must cover five years or more.
3. Collect a bonafide certificate from the school or college, stating clearly the class or course the student is currently studying. This decides the rate.
4. Get the application form. Download it from the "Differently Abled Persons

• Download Forms" section of socwelfare.py.gov.in, or apply online through the e-District portal at edistrict.py.gov.in.

5. Fill in the form and attach the enclosures, disability certificate, income certificate, residence certificate, bonafide certificate, bank passbook copy and Aadhaar. Attach the previous year's mark list if you are renewing.
6. Submit through the institution to the Directorate of Social Welfare, or file online and note the reference number. Take a dated acknowledgement for a paper submission.
7. Renew every academic year. Do not assume the scholarship carries forward on its own; the rate and the bonafide certificate change with the class.

How do you check the status and the payment?

• Online applicants should log back into edistrict.py.gov.in and track the application by its reference number.
• Paper applicants should ask at the school or college office first, since applications are routed through the institution and the sanction news usually reaches it before it reaches the family.
• The Directorate of Social Welfare can be contacted on +91-413-2205871 or at socwel[at]py[dot]gov[dot]in.
• Payment arrives as a credit in the account named in the application. For a young child that is often a guardian's account; make sure the account details do not change mid-year without informing the Directorate.

Why do applications get rejected, and how do you fix them?

• Income certificate above Rs 75,000. The commonest ground. Have the Revenue Department correct it if it overstates the household position; otherwise consider the central schemes, whose ceiling is Rs 2.5 lakh.
• Disability below 40 per cent, or an expired certificate. Get a fresh assessment from the medical board.
• No bonafide certificate, or one that does not name the class. The rate cannot be fixed without it, so the file stops.
• Residence short of five years. Add nativity certificate, ration card, voter roll entry of the parents and utility bills.
• Applied directly instead of through the institution. Route it through the school or college.
• Same student claiming a state and a central scholarship for the same year. Declare and choose one.
• Bank account inactive or in a mismatched name. Correct it at the bank before the sanction, not after.

What else does the Directorate run for differently abled students and families?

The Directorate of Social Welfare also runs monthly financial assistance for differently abled persons, free bus passes, transport allowance in lieu of the pass, a fuel subsidy for those with orthopaedic disability who own a motorised vehicle, supply of prosthetic appliances and motorised tricycles, marriage incentives, disability identity cards, radios for blind persons, an annual tour, and the Perunthalaivar Karma Veerar Kamaraj funeral expenses assistance. It also runs the Ananda Rangapillai Government Special School for the Visually Handicapped and the Hearing Impaired at Pillaichavadi and a second special school in Karaikal, where boarding, lodging, uniforms, textbooks, Braille books and hearing aids are all free.

Where do you complain?

• Contact the Directorate of Social Welfare, Government of Puducherry, on +91-413-2205871 or socwel[at]py[dot]gov[dot]in, quoting the application number.
• For an e-District application, raise the grievance through the portal so it is tagged to the same file.
• Escalate on CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in against the Government of Puducherry, Directorate of Social Welfare.

The scholarship costs nothing to apply for. No agent can secure it, and any demand for money should be reported to the Directorate.