Kanyashree Prakalpa

What is Kanyashree Prakalpa?

Kanyashree Prakalpa is the conditional cash transfer scheme of the Government of West Bengal for adolescent girls, run by the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare. Kanyashree Prakalpa was launched on 1 October 2013 and pays money directly into a bank account held in the girl's own name, on two conditions: that she stays in education, and that she does not marry before 18.

According to the official Kanyashree portal, the scheme "seeks to improve the status and wellbeing of girls, specifically those from socio-economically disadvantaged families through Conditional Cash Transfers" by incentivising them to complete secondary or higher secondary education and by disincentivising marriage until at least 18, the legal age of marriage, so as to reduce early pregnancies and the associated risks of maternal and child mortality.

Two design choices set Kanyashree apart. First, the benefit is paid to the girl, not to her parents, which makes the scheme a financial inclusion tool as well as a scholarship. The decision on how to use the money stays with her. Second, the cash sits inside a wider behaviour change strategy that includes Kanyashree clubs, competitions, exposure visits and role model endorsement, so that the social standing of a Kanyashree girl rises alongside her bank balance.

Kanyashree Prakalpa has been recognised internationally, winning the first place United Nations Public Service Award in 2017, and has enrolled applications running into crores across more than eighteen thousand registered institutions. The current portal runs as Kanyashree 9.0 at kanyashree.wb.gov.in.

How much does Kanyashree Prakalpa pay?

The portal's conditional cash transfer page lists two components.

The annual scholarship is repeatable, a girl who joins at 13 and stays unmarried and in school can draw it in each of the years up to 18, and then claim the one-time grant. Together that is up to Rs 30,000 across the life of the scheme for a girl who enters early and stays the course.

"Education" is defined broadly on the portal and covers secondary and higher secondary education as well as vocational, technical and sports courses, so a girl at an industrial training centre or a sports training centre is not shut out.

Payment goes by direct transfer into the girl's own account. The District Magistrate is the sanctioning officer.

Who is eligible for Kanyashree Prakalpa?

The official FAQ is blunt that "Kanyashree is NOT for ALL girls". Both components carry the same four core conditions.

A girl can be enrolled if she is:

• A resident of West Bengal, and
• Enrolled and regularly attending an educational institution, a formal school, a madrasah or equivalent, an open school, a college or open university, or a vocational, technical, industrial or sports training centre, and
• Unmarried, and
• From a family whose total annual income is not more than Rs 1,20,000.

For the annual scholarship she must be 13 to 18 years old and in Class VIII equivalent or above. For the one-time grant she must be 18 to 19 years old.

The income ceiling is waived for three groups, who may apply even if family income exceeds Rs 1,20,000 a year:

• Girls who are specially abled with a disability of 40 per cent or more.
• Girls living in a Home registered under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.
• Girls who have lost both parents.

Girls with special needs in a class below Class VIII can also apply for the annual scholarship, which is the single exception to the class requirement.

A girl is not eligible and cannot apply if:

• She is married. Marriage ends entitlement to both components.
• She has dropped out or is not regularly attending an institution.
• She is not a resident of West Bengal.
• Her family income exceeds Rs 1,20,000 a year and none of the three waivers applies.
• She is over 19 and has not claimed the one-time grant in the 18-to-19 window.
• She is under 13, or under Class VIII and does not have a qualifying disability.

What documents does a Kanyashree application need?

How to apply for Kanyashree Prakalpa

Kanyashree is applied for through the girl's own institution, not at a government office counter. That is the most common thing families get wrong.

1. Ask the school, madrasah, college or training centre for the Kanyashree application form. Every registered institution holds them and there is no charge. Ask for the K1 form if the girl is 13 to 18, and the K2 form if she is 18 to 19.
2. Open a bank account in the girl's own name if she does not already have one, and get it seeded with her Aadhaar. The money will not be paid into a parent's account.
3. Fill in the form with the girl's personal details, date of birth, class, family income, caste and bank account particulars, and sign the declaration that she is unmarried.
4. Attach the documents — enrolment certificate, proof of age, bank details, income declaration, Aadhaar, photograph, and the disability certificate if a waiver is being claimed.
5. Submit the form back to the institution, which uploads it to the Kanyashree portal. Keep the application form ID that is generated; every later query needs it.
6. Let the institution renew it each academic year. The institution, not the family, is responsible for annual renewal of the annual scholarship.
7. Claim the one-time grant as soon as the girl turns 18. Do not wait, the window closes at 19.

Applications are scrutinised by the competent authority and sanctioned by the District Magistrate, after which the amount is transferred to the girl's account.

How do you check a Kanyashree application status?

1. Open kanyashree.wb.gov.in and choose Track Application.
2. Enter your application form ID or your Kanyashree ID.
3. If the ID has been lost, ask the institution that submitted the form. The record sits with them.
4. For a stuck application, contact the district nodal officer for your district. Kanyashree publishes a district-wise list of nodal officers with mobile and office numbers, and this is usually faster than the state line.

Why Kanyashree applications get rejected or payments stop

• The institution did not renew the record for the new academic year, which is the most common cause of a stopped annual scholarship.
• The girl's attendance lapsed, breaking the education condition.
• The bank account is in a parent's name, or is not Aadhaar-seeded, so the transfer fails.
• A name or date-of-birth mismatch between the form, the school record and Aadhaar.
• The income declaration exceeds Rs 1,20,000 and no waiver was claimed or documented.
• The one-time grant was claimed after 19, which is outside the window.
• Marriage was recorded, which ends entitlement.

Most of these are fixed at the institution rather than at a government office, because the institution is the entry point into the portal.

Kanyashree Plus and what comes after

Kanyashree Prakalpa also runs a follow-on component branded Kanyashree-Plus, which works on what happens after the cash, tracking Kanyashree girls into higher education, skilling and work, and running Kanyashree clubs and life skills modules through schools. Families sometimes assume Kanyashree is only the money; the clubs, exposure visits and the Girls in ICT Day activities listed on the portal are part of the same programme and are free to join through the school.

Help and grievance redressal

• Kanyashree state helpline: 033-23373846
• Track Application and Nodal Officers links on kanyashree.wb.gov.in
• District nodal officers, listed district by district on the portal with mobile and office numbers and email addresses
• The institution that submitted the form, for anything to do with renewal, enrolment certificates or a lost application ID

Kanyashree forms are free. No institution, clerk or agent may charge a girl or her family for collecting, filling or forwarding a Kanyashree application.