Savitribai Phule Scholarship for V.J.N.T. and S.B.C. Girl Students Studying in 5th to 7th Standard

What is the Savitribai Phule Scholarship for VJNT and SBC girls in Class 5 to 7?

Savitribai Phule Scholarship for V.J.N.T. and S.B.C. girl students studying in 5th to 7th standard is a pre-matric scholarship run by the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra. Readers who search for it in Marathi will find it as Savitribai Phule Shishyavrutti Yojana. The scheme pays Rs 60 per month for 10 months, that is Rs 600 for the academic year, to every girl student from the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) or Special Backward Class (SBC) category who is studying in Class 5, 6 or 7 in a government-recognised school in Maharashtra.

The purpose is narrow and specific. Maharashtra's own enrolment data has long shown that girls from nomadic and de-notified communities drop out between the upper-primary and secondary stages, often because families move for seasonal work. The scholarship is deliberately small in rupee terms but universal in reach: there is no income ceiling and no marks condition, so no eligible girl is screened out by a paperwork test her family cannot satisfy.

The scheme is named after Savitribai Phule, who opened the first school for girls in Pune in 1848. Maharashtra runs several scholarships under her name, and it is easy to pick the wrong one. This page covers only the VJNT and SBC slab for Class 5 to 7.

Who is eligible for the Savitribai Phule Scholarship in Class 5 to 7?

You can receive the scholarship if:

• The student is a girl.
• The student belongs to the VJNT or SBC category and holds a valid caste certificate issued by a competent authority in Maharashtra.
• The student is studying in Class 5, 6 or 7.
• The school is a government-recognised educational institution.
• The student is a resident of Maharashtra.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• The student is a boy. This slab is only for girl students.
• The student is in Class 4 or below, or in Class 8 or above. Class 8 to 10 VJNT and SBC girls are covered by a separate slab that pays a different rate.
• The student belongs to the OBC category: OBC girls in Class 5 to 7 receive Rs 250 per month for 10 months (Rs 2,500 a year) under a parallel scheme of the same department.
• The student belongs to a Scheduled Caste: SC girls are covered by the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department's version of the scheme.
• The school is not recognised by the Government of Maharashtra.
• The caste certificate cannot be produced. This is the one document with no substitute.

Note what is not a condition. The department's own scheme page records "उत्पन्नाची अट लागू नाही" — no income condition applies. There is also no minimum percentage of marks, no attendance threshold published, and no restriction on the number of girls per family.

How much money does the scholarship give?

The Rs 60 figure has not been revised for several years, and the department has not announced a new rate. Treat any higher figure quoted by a private website as unverified unless it appears on the departmental page.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Savitribai Phule Scholarship

The scheme is essentially paperless for the family. The student does not fill an online form; the school does the work. Follow these steps.

1. Get the caste certificate first. Apply at the Setu / Aaple Sarkar centre or the tahsildar's office for a VJNT or SBC certificate in the student's name. Nothing else in this scheme moves without it.
2. Submit copies to the school office. Hand the caste certificate, Aadhaar card, bank passbook first page and domicile proof to the class teacher or school clerk at the start of the academic year, and get an acknowledgement.
3. The headmaster compiles the list. The headmaster prepares the consolidated list of eligible VJNT and SBC girl students of Class 5 to 7 with their Aadhaar and bank details.
4. The list goes to the district office. The headmaster forwards it to the Assistant Director, Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department of the district. In several districts the District Social Welfare Officer, Zilla Parishad still receives these lists as the field office.
5. The district office sanctions the amount and releases it by Direct Benefit Transfer into the seeded bank account.
6. Confirm the credit in the passbook or through a bank SMS, and tell the school if nothing arrives by the end of the academic year.

How to check whether the scholarship has been sanctioned

There is no public status-tracking page for this particular slab, because the application is filed in bulk by the school and not by the student. Use this sequence instead:

1. Ask the headmaster whether the school's list for the year has been sent and on what date.
2. Ask the Assistant Director, Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department of your district whether that list has been sanctioned.
3. Check the bank passbook for a DBT credit of Rs 600.

Why the scholarship gets rejected or delayed

• No caste certificate on file, or a certificate in a category other than VJNT/SBC. This is the most common single reason.
• Name mismatch between the school register, Aadhaar and the bank account.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT transfer fails and bounces back.
• The school did not include the name in the annual list: often because the documents were handed in after the list was closed.
• Wrong slab claimed, for example an OBC girl entered under the VJNT/SBC list or a Class 8 student entered under the Class 5 to 7 list.
• School not recognised by the Government of Maharashtra.

Most of these are fixed at school level within the same academic year. A wrong or missing caste certificate is the only one that needs an outside office.

Key dates and how the year runs

The scheme carries a departmental publication date of 30 January 2019 on the current Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department page, and the page was last updated in August 2025. The department has not published a hard last date for schools to submit lists; in practice the list is prepared after admissions close and payment follows the sanction of the district budget. Parents should therefore lodge documents with the school at the start of the academic year in June rather than waiting.

Grievance and contact

• Assistant Director, Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department of your district, the sanctioning authority for this scholarship.
• School headmaster. The first point of contact, since the list starts here.
• Maharashtra Citizen Contact Centre: 1800 120 8040 (toll free, 24x7) for Right to Services Act queries and for being routed to the right office.
• Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, 1st Floor, Annexe Building, Mantralaya, Mumbai 400032.

No fee is payable for this scholarship at any stage. Neither the school nor any agent may charge for adding a girl's name to the list.