Tablet Assistance to Scheduled Caste Students of 12th Standard

What is the Tablet Assistance scheme for SC students of 12th standard?

Tablet Assistance to Scheduled Caste Students of 12th Standard: scheme code BCK-353, is run by the Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare in the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Gujarat.

The scheme's own objective, as recorded on the Director's scheme page, is to provide financial assistance to Scheduled Caste students for the cost of a tablet. The benefit is stated as Rs 1,000 assistance, and the eligibility condition is that the student has received a tablet against a Rs 1,000 token fee from the Education Department.

That structure is important and often misread. Gujarat's Education Department distributes subsidised tablets to students entering the first year of a graduation or polytechnic course, against a token fee of Rs 1,000 paid at the institution. BCK-353 is the Social Justice and Empowerment Department's companion measure: for Scheduled Caste students, the Rs 1,000 token fee is given back as assistance. The scheme does not itself hand out a tablet, and it does not apply to a student who never took one under the Education Department's distribution.

Key features

• Rs 1,000 assistance per eligible Scheduled Caste student.
• No income limit, a rare feature among Gujarat's scholarship schemes.
• Linked to the Rs 1,000 token fee paid for a government-distributed tablet.
• Applied for online only, on the Digital Gujarat portal under Scholarship Services.
• Paid by Direct Benefit Transfer to the student's own bank account.
• Implemented by the District Deputy Director (Scheduled Caste Welfare).

The scheme operates under Government of Gujarat circular number SSP/102014/NB347/A1 dated 16 January 2019, as recorded on the Director's scheme page.

Who is eligible for the Rs 1,000 tablet assistance?

You can apply if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste notified in Gujarat and hold a valid caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You have completed the 12th standard.
• You have received a tablet from the Education Department against payment of the Rs 1,000 token fee, and hold the receipt.
• You have a bank account in your own name for the DBT credit.
• You are applying within the Digital Gujarat scholarship window for the current year.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• You do not belong to a Scheduled Caste notified in Gujarat. Students of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes have a parallel free-tablet scheme under the Director of Developing Castes Welfare, and Scheduled Tribe students should approach the Tribal Development Department.
• You did not receive a tablet under the Education Department's distribution against the Rs 1,000 token fee. There is no assistance to claim without the underlying transaction.
• You cannot produce the Rs 1,000 token fee receipt. This is the document the entire claim rests on.
• You are a Scheduled Caste student of another state. A Gujarat caste certificate is required.
• You have already received the Rs 1,000 assistance, it is a one-time benefit tied to a single tablet.
• You apply after the closing date of the annual Digital Gujarat window.

There is no income ceiling, which distinguishes BCK-353 from almost every other scholarship the directorate runs. A Scheduled Caste student is not disqualified by family income here.

What documents are required for BCK-353?

Scan the token fee receipt carefully. It is usually a small printed slip from the college accounts counter, and a blurred photograph of it is the most common reason this particular application comes back for correction.

How to apply for the tablet assistance scheme online

1. Keep the Rs 1,000 token fee receipt safe from the day you collect the tablet. Photograph and scan it immediately, the claim is impossible without it.
2. Open the Digital Gujarat portal at digitalgujarat.gov.in and click Register if you do not already have an account, then verify the OTP sent to your mobile number.
3. Log in and open Services → Scholarship Services, then select the correct academic year.
4. Choose the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, and from the scheme list select BCK-353 to Tablet Assistance to SC Students.
5. Fill the application form with your personal details, caste particulars, institution details, Class 12 record and bank account with IFSC code.
6. Upload the documents; caste certificate, token fee receipt, Class 12 marksheet, institution identity card, bank passbook and Aadhaar.
7. Submit the application and note the application number shown on the confirmation screen.
8. Print the submitted application and hand it with document photocopies to your college principal or scholarship clerk if the institution asks for a physical set. Many colleges file the online proposal for their students on the Digital Gujarat portal, so check with the principal's office first — it can save you the individual filing entirely.
9. Track the application from your Digital Gujarat login until the status reads sanctioned and then paid.

How is the Rs 1,000 paid?

The assistance is credited by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own bank account after the District Deputy Director (Scheduled Caste Welfare) sanctions the case. It is a one-time payment of Rs 1,000, not a recurring benefit, and there is no cash disbursement at the college.

Two conditions decide whether the payment lands. The account must be in the student's own name. A parent's account fails DBT validation, and it should be Aadhaar-seeded at the bank, since DBT routes through the Aadhaar Payment Bridge. Students frequently see the status change to "sanctioned" and then wait for money that never arrives, and the cause is almost always an unseeded or dormant account rather than a problem with the sanction.

How to check your application status

1. Log in at digitalgujarat.gov.in with your registered credentials.
2. Open Scholarship Services and then My Applications for the relevant academic year.
3. Read the stage against your application number: submitted, pending with the institution, pending with the District Deputy Director, sanctioned, or paid.
4. If the status is stuck at "pending with institution", follow up with your college's scholarship clerk. The institution's verification is a separate step the student cannot complete.

For portal errors, the Digital Gujarat helpdesk on 18002335500 is the correct number. For questions about the sanction itself, contact the District Deputy Director (Scheduled Caste Welfare) in your district.

Important dates

The Digital Gujarat scholarship window for Scheduled Caste applications for 2026-27 opened on 6 July 2026 and closes on 30 September 2026. Dates shift by a few weeks each year and are occasionally extended, so treat the portal banner as authoritative. Because BCK-353 is a small, single-payment claim, it is easy to leave to the last week, and that is exactly when the portal is slowest.

Common reasons applications are rejected

• Token fee receipt missing or illegible, so the Rs 1,000 payment cannot be verified.
• Caste certificate from another state, or from a non-competent authority.
• Bank account not in the student's name, or not Aadhaar-seeded, so DBT fails after sanction.
• Institution verification not completed on the portal.
• Wrong scheme code. A Scheduled Caste student selecting the Developing Castes tablet scheme, or an SEBC student selecting BCK-353.
• Duplicate application for the same tablet.
• Filed after the closing date.

A note on how thin this scheme is

Tablet Assistance under BCK-353 is a single Rs 1,000 payment with a short document list and no income test. Gujarat has not published a beneficiary target, a budget figure or a separate helpline for it, and the Director of Scheduled Caste Welfare's page carries only the objective, the benefit, the eligibility condition and the implementing office. Anything beyond that on other websites: minimum marks, tablet brand, distribution dates: is not stated on the official scheme page, so this guide does not repeat it. If you have seen a percentage requirement quoted elsewhere, verify it with your college or the District Deputy Director before relying on it.

Where to get help

• Digital Gujarat helpdesk: 18002335500
• Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare: 079-23253229 / 079-23253235, Block 4, 2nd Floor, Dr Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• District Deputy Director (Scheduled Caste Welfare) office in your district
• Scheme page: sje.gujarat.gov.in, Director Scheduled Caste Welfare, BCK-353

Applying is free. No cyber café or agent can charge a fee to "get the Rs 1,000 approved", and no government officer will ask for your Digital Gujarat password or OTP.