Stipends to Students of NT/DNT Caste for Technical and Vocational Courses after SSC

What is the NT/DNT stipend for technical and vocational courses after SSC?

Stipends to Students of NT/DNT Caste for Technical and Vocational Courses after SSC is a state-funded education scheme of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat, delivered through the Directorate of Developing Castes Welfare. The scheme pays Rs 400 per month to a student from a Nomadic Tribe or Denotified Tribe community who has passed the Secondary School Certificate examination and has joined a one-year recognised professional course or a Government Industrial Training Institute course.

According to the scheme description published on the national myScheme repository, the purpose is narrow and practical: the drop-out rate among NT/DNT students is highest in the first year after SSC, when a family that has just paid admission fees is asked to also cover travel, tools, uniform and study material. A small monthly stipend paid straight into the student's own bank account is meant to keep the student in the classroom through that first year.

Gujarat classifies Nomadic Tribes and Denotified Tribes; often written locally as Vicharati and Vimukta Jatis: as a distinct welfare group under the Developing Castes Welfare directorate, separate from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This stipend is one of a family of post-SSC supports that directorate runs, which also includes post-SSC scholarships for boys and girls and a talent-pool scheme.

Key features

• Cash stipend of Rs 400 per month, paid by Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Payable for one year of the qualifying course.
• Restricted to NT/DNT students who are residents of Gujarat.
• Family income ceiling of Rs 6,00,000 per annum.
• Applications are made online, free of charge, on Digital Gujarat.

Who is eligible for the NT/DNT technical and vocational stipend?

You can claim the stipend if all of these are true:

• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You belong to a Nomadic Tribe or Denotified Tribe (NT/DNT) community recognised in Gujarat, and you hold a caste certificate saying so.
• You have passed the SSC examination.
• You are enrolled in a recognised professional course or a Government ITI trade taken up after SSC.
• Your individual and family income together do not exceed Rs 6,00,000 per annum, evidenced by a current income certificate.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You belong to a caste outside the NT/DNT list. Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Class and general-category students must use the schemes of their own directorates instead.
• Your family income exceeds Rs 6,00,000 a year.
• You are studying outside Gujarat or are not a resident of the state.
• You have not yet passed SSC, or you are in a general-stream Class 11 or 12 course rather than a technical or vocational one.
• You cannot produce a caste certificate, an income certificate or proof of admission. The application cannot be processed without them.

There is no upper age bar published for this stipend and no marks cut-off in the official description. The qualifying test is caste category, residence, income and the type of course joined.

What documents are required?

Keep every document as a clear scan or a phone photograph under the file-size limit shown on the upload screen. Blurred caste certificates are a routine cause of an application being returned for correction.

How to apply for the NT/DNT stipend on Digital Gujarat

1. Open the Digital Gujarat portal at digitalgujarat.gov.in and click Click to Register if you do not already have an account. Fill in your name, mobile number and email, then click Save.
2. Log in with your registered mobile number and password, and complete the OTP verification sent to your mobile.
3. From the service list, select the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, then open the scholarship and stipend service for NT/DNT students in technical and vocational courses after SSC.
4. Fill the application form: personal details, caste, family income, your institute name and course, and your bank account number and IFSC code.
5. Upload the documents — caste certificate, income certificate, mark sheet, fee receipt and bank passbook. You can also import them directly from DigiLocker instead of scanning.
6. Review every entry carefully, especially the bank account number and IFSC, because a wrong digit is the single most common cause of a failed transfer.
7. Submit the application and note down the application number shown on the confirmation screen. Take a printout or a screenshot for your records.

How to apply offline or with help

Students without reliable internet access do not have to do this alone.

1. Visit your institute's scholarship or student-section clerk, Government ITIs in Gujarat routinely help their NT/DNT students file the Digital Gujarat form in bulk at the start of the session.
2. Alternatively, go to a Common Service Centre or a Gram Panchayat VCE centre with your documents and ask them to submit the Digital Gujarat application on your behalf.
3. For scheme-level questions, approach the District Social Welfare Officer under the Directorate of Developing Castes Welfare.

The Directorate of Developing Castes Welfare is located at Block 4, Dr Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, and its listed office number is +91-79-23253245.

How do I check my application and payment status?

1. Log in to digitalgujarat.gov.in with the same mobile number you used to apply.
2. Open My Applications and find the application number for the stipend.
3. The status column will show one of: submitted, pending at institute level, pending at department level, objection raised, sanctioned, or paid.
4. If the status shows an objection, open it to read the exact reason, correct the entry or re-upload the document, and resubmit within the window given.

Once sanctioned, payment reaches the bank account by DBT. Check the bank passbook or the SMS from the bank rather than expecting a separate letter.

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

• Caste certificate does not match the NT/DNT list. Only the tribes notified as Nomadic or Denotified for Gujarat qualify. Get the certificate reissued by the Mamlatdar with the correct entry.
• Income certificate expired or above the ceiling. Income certificates have a limited validity. Renew it before the scholarship window opens.
• Course not recognised. Private short-term courses that are not recognised professional courses or Government ITI trades fall outside the scheme.
• Bank account in a parent's name. The stipend is paid to the student, so the account must be the student's own.
• Name mismatch between the mark sheet, the caste certificate and the bank account. Fix the weakest document first, usually the bank record.
• Documents uploaded upside down or unreadable. Re-upload rather than arguing the point.

Key dates and how the payment cycle works

Gujarat opens its Digital Gujarat scholarship and stipend services on an academic-year cycle, generally once admissions are complete for the session. No single fixed statewide last date is published for this stipend, so the practical advice is to file within the first weeks of the session rather than waiting. Payment is released after the institute verifies attendance and enrolment, which is why the fee receipt and institute details matter so much on the form. Because the stipend runs for one year of the course, a student in a two-year ITI trade should not assume automatic renewal; check the portal in the second year for the applicable scheme.

Help and grievance redressal

• Digital Gujarat help desk: 18002335500
• Directorate of Developing Castes Welfare, Gandhinagar: +91-79-23253245
• District Social Welfare Officer in your district office for scheme-level disputes
• Your institute's scholarship clerk for verification delays at the college or ITI end

No fee is payable to any agent for this stipend. If someone asks for a share of the Rs 400 per month, report it to the District Social Welfare Officer.