Aikyashree Scholarship Scheme

What is the Aikyashree scholarship scheme?

Aikyashree is the umbrella scholarship programme of the Government of West Bengal for students belonging to the state's notified minority communities. The Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department owns the scheme, and the West Bengal Minorities' Development and Finance Corporation (WBMDFC) administers it through the scholarship portal at wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in.

Aikyashree was launched in 2015, consolidating a set of separate minority scholarship schemes into one brand and one application portal. The name comes from the Bengali word aikya, meaning unity. Reported figures put annual coverage at more than 15 lakh minority students across the state, from Class 1 through to research-level study, which makes it one of the largest state-run minority scholarship programmes in the country.

The scheme is state-funded. West Bengal took over the funding of these scholarships rather than routing students through the central minority scholarship schemes, which is why the application runs on the WBMDFC portal and not on the National Scholarship Portal.

Which communities and courses does Aikyashree cover?

Aikyashree is open to students of the six notified minority communities: Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi (Zoroastrian).

The scheme covers the full education ladder:

• Pre-matric, for Classes 1 to 10 in recognised schools and madrasahs in West Bengal.
• Post-matric, from Class 11 upward, covering higher secondary, graduation, postgraduate and doctoral study.
• Merit-cum-means, for professional and technical courses such as MBBS, B.Tech and LLB, where course fees are the main cost.

WBMDFC also handles the Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship for high-scoring students and a talent support stream for vocational and undergraduate tracks. Those sit alongside Aikyashree on the same portal, and a student should check which stream fits before applying, since holding two scholarships for the same course is not allowed.

Who is eligible for Aikyashree, and who is not eligible?

You can apply if:

• You belong to one of the six notified minority communities.
• You are a permanent resident of West Bengal and studying in an institution in the state.
• You scored at least 50 per cent in the last examination you passed. The Swami Vivekananda merit-cum-means stream uses a higher bar of 60 per cent.
• Your annual family income is within the ceiling. Published guidelines put this at Rs 2 lakh for the pre-matric and post-matric components and Rs 2.5 lakh for the merit-cum-means component.
• You hold a bank account in your own name linked to Aadhaar, because the scholarship is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not belong to a notified minority community.
• You are not a resident of West Bengal, or you study outside the state.
• Your family income exceeds the ceiling for the component you are applying under.
• You scored below the minimum percentage in the previous examination.
• You are already receiving another scholarship for the same course and the same academic year. Double benefit is not permitted, and the declaration on the form asks about it directly.
• Your institution is not recognised by a competent board, council or university.

How much does Aikyashree pay?

Aikyashree rates vary by class, course and whether the student is a day scholar or a hosteller. The policy document for the pre-matric component describes a range of roughly Rs 1,100 to Rs 11,000 a year, and the pattern reported for the scheme is:

Treat these as indicative bands rather than a fixed rate card. The department revises the rates from session to session, and the authoritative figure for the current year is the one published on the WBMDFC portal against your class and course. Under the merit-cum-means component, the actual tuition fee is covered for professional courses, and admission fees paid at government and government-aided institutions are reimbursed.

Every payment is made by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's own Aadhaar-seeded bank account. A parent's account is not accepted.

How to apply for the Aikyashree scholarship

1. Open the WBMDFC scholarship portal at wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in during an open application window for the session.
2. Choose the correct component: Aikyashree Pre-Matric for Classes 1 to 10, or Aikyashree Post-Matric for Class 11 and above, or the merit-cum-means option for a professional course.
3. Register with your Aadhaar number and mobile number, and verify the OTP sent to the linked mobile number. Save the credentials generated.
4. Log in and fill in the application: community, family income, previous examination marks, present institution, class or course, and your bank account number with IFSC code.
5. Upload the documents: Aadhaar card, community certificate or declaration, income certificate, previous marksheet, residence proof, enrolment proof, bank passbook and photograph.
6. Submit the application and note the application ID shown on screen.
7. Take the printed application, if your institution asks for it, to the school or college office. The institution verifies the application on the portal.
8. Track the status on the portal until it shows sanctioned, then watch for the DBT credit in your bank account.

There is no separate offline form. Students without internet access usually apply through the institution's computer facility or at a common service point, and no fee is charged for the application itself.

When can you apply for Aikyashree?

Aikyashree runs on an annual academic cycle. The portal opens for the new session and closes some months later; reporting for the 2026 cycle put the closing date at 31 March 2026. Because the exact dates shift each year, check the notice board on wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in rather than assuming last year's date.

Two timing points matter:

• Fresh applications must be filed in the session in which the student is enrolled, after admission is confirmed.
• Renewals must be filed each year with the latest marksheet. Aikyashree is not a one-time award that continues automatically, and a missed renewal window means starting again as a fresh applicant in the next session.

Why do Aikyashree applications get rejected?

• Income certificate above the ceiling, or issued by an authority the department does not accept.
• Below the minimum percentage in the previous examination.
• Institution has not verified the application on the portal. This is the single commonest reason an application stalls, and it is fixed at the college office, not by reapplying.
• Bank account not in the student's own name, or not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit fails.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the marksheet and the bank record.
• Duplicate scholarship detected for the same course and year.
• Documents uploaded unreadable, particularly a scanned income certificate or marksheet.

If the portal shows the application as returned for correction, edit the flagged field within the correction window instead of filing a second application, since two live applications from the same Aadhaar will both be held.

Where do you get help with an Aikyashree problem?

• The scholarship section of your school, madrasah or college, which is the verifying authority and the first place to go for a stuck application
• The district minority affairs office or district WBMDFC office
• The West Bengal Minorities' Development and Finance Corporation (WBMDFC), which administers the scheme
• The Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department, Government of West Bengal
• The contact details published on wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in, which are the authoritative ones for the current session

Applying for Aikyashree is free. No agent or cyber cafe is authorised to charge for "getting a scholarship sanctioned", and no official will ask for the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.

How to check your Aikyashree application status

Aikyashree does not send automatic SMS updates at every stage, so the applicant has to check the WBMDFC portal directly rather than wait for a notification.

1. Go to the WBMDFC scholarship portal at wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in and log in with the registered user ID and password created at the time of application, not with Aadhaar alone.
2. Open the application status or track-application section of the student dashboard. This is separate from the form itself and shows the current stage of the file.
3. Read the stage shown, since Aikyashree applications typically move through a small number of recognisable states:
   • Submitted or pending at institution, meaning the school, madrasah or college has not yet verified it on the portal.
   • Forwarded or under district scrutiny, meaning the institution has verified it and it has moved to the district-level check.
   • Sanctioned, meaning the award has been approved and payment is due by Direct Benefit Transfer.
   • Returned for correction or rejected, usually with a remark naming the field or document at fault.
4. If the status has not moved for several weeks and still shows pending at the institution, the fastest fix is to ask the scholarship in-charge at the school, madrasah or college directly, since institution verification is the step that most often stalls and it cannot be pushed from the student's side of the portal.
5. If the institution confirms it has verified the application but the district-level status still has not updated, raise the matter with the district minority affairs office or the district WBMDFC office, quoting the application ID generated at submission.
6. Once the status changes to sanctioned, check the linked bank account for the DBT credit. A sanctioned status with no credit after a reasonable wait is itself a reason to follow up with the institution or district office rather than assume the scholarship has lapsed.

Keep the application ID and the registered mobile number on hand for every status check and every follow-up call, since the institution and district office identify a case by these rather than by name alone.