Grant of Retention Scholarship to Scheduled Caste Girl Students

What is the Retention Scholarship for Scheduled Caste girl students?

Grant of Retention Scholarship to Scheduled Caste Girl Students is a scheme of the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department, Government of Puducherry. Under it, a scholarship is paid to girl students of the Scheduled Caste community studying in Class 1 to Class 5, in both government and government-recognised private educational institutions in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The name of the scheme states its purpose exactly. This is not a merit award. The department's stated objective is to provide financial assistance to Scheduled Caste girl students so that they can pursue primary education, and specifically so that the parents of those students do not lose the income they would otherwise get by sending their girls to work. The scheme is aimed at a household calculation, not at a school ranking.

The scholarship is granted for 10 months in an academic year at the rate of Rs 100 per month per girl student, which works out to Rs 1,000 per year.

Who is eligible for the Retention Scholarship?

A girl student can apply if:

• She belongs to the Scheduled Caste community.
• She is a native of the Union Territory of Puducherry, or has been residing in Puducherry for a continuous period of not less than five years.
• She is studying in Class 1 to Class 5, in either a government school or a private educational institution recognised by the government.
• The annual income of her parent or guardian does not exceed Rs 24,000.

Continuing conditions:

• The benefit is available only to bonafide students, and only so long as they continue their studies satisfactorily in recognised institutions of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• A student is deemed to be continuing her studies satisfactorily if she secures promotion to the next higher class annually.
• A student granted the scholarship is allowed to retain it until she completes primary education, which is what makes this a retention rather than an annual competitive award.

Who is not eligible:

• Boys. The scheme is confined to girl students.
• Students who are not Scheduled Caste.
• Families with annual income above Rs 24,000. The ceiling is strict and is the most common ground on which applications fall.
• Girls in Class 6 and above. The scheme stops at the end of primary education; older students fall under the separate pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes of the department.
• Students in unrecognised institutions. The school must be a government school or a government-recognised private school.
• Students who are neither native to Puducherry nor continuously resident there for five years.

Two situations lead to loss of the scholarship rather than plain ineligibility. The scholarship is cancelled for any misconduct on the part of the scholar. And if a candidate is found to have obtained the scholarship by a false statement, the scholarship is cancelled and the amount already paid is recovered at the discretion of the sanctioning authority.

What documents are required?

The income certificate is the document to get right first. At a ceiling of Rs 24,000 a year, a certificate issued casually with a rounded-up figure can disqualify a family that genuinely falls within the limit.

How to apply for the Retention Scholarship

1. Register on the National Scholarship Portal. Go to scholarships.gov.in and use New Registration, entering the girl's details exactly as they appear on her documents. A parent or guardian normally does this on her behalf.
2. Note the Student Registration ID issued on successful registration. It is the login credential from that point on.
3. Log in and open a Fresh Application, then click the Application Form icon on the welcome page.
4. Complete the form and upload the documents: caste certificate, income certificate, nativity or residence certificate, bonafide certificate, Aadhaar and bank details.
5. Click Final Submit. A saved draft is not a submitted application, and the distinction catches out a large share of first-time applicants.
6. Keep the system-generated registration number sent on submission. Every later enquiry runs on that number.

How to check the status of the application

1. Log in at scholarships.gov.in with the Student Registration ID.
2. Check which verification stage the application has reached, institute, district or state.
3. If it is pending at institute level, speak to the head of the school, since that verification is done by the school and not by the department.
4. For state-level queries, contact the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department, Government of Puducherry, on +91-413-2205871, quoting the registration number.

How the money is paid

The scholarship is paid at Rs 100 a month for 10 months of the academic year. Because the beneficiaries are children in Classes 1 to 5, the receiving account is usually operated by a parent or guardian, and it should be Aadhaar-seeded so that the credit does not fail after sanction.

Why Retention Scholarship applications fail

• Family income above Rs 24,000 a year on the income certificate, or an income certificate that has expired.
• Caste certificate in the father's name only, where the portal expects one in the student's name.
• The school is not government-recognised, which takes the student outside the scheme however genuine her circumstances.
• No promotion to the next higher class, which breaks the satisfactory progress condition for continuation.
• Residence test not met, neither native to Puducherry nor five years of continuous residence.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the credit bounces.
• Application saved but never finally submitted before the portal window closed.

Help and grievance redressal

• Adi Dravidar Welfare Department, Government of Puducherry — phone +91-413-2205871. Scheme listings are at adwelfare.py.gov.in/programmes-schemes.
• National Scholarship Portal helpdesk, for registration, OTP and upload faults, which the department cannot fix at its end.
• Head of the school, for anything held at institute verification.

Applying is free. No agent can charge a fee to have a girl's name added to this list, and no official will ask a family for an OTP.