The Prime Miniter’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities, announced in June 2006, introduced the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities. The Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities provides financial assistance for meritorious students from minority communities.

The government is targeting to distribute five lakh fresh scholarships apart from renewal scholarships. The scholarships will be distributed amongst the States/Union Territories (UTs) based on the population of minorities in the States/UTs as per the 2001 census. The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements this scheme through the States/UT’s administration.

Objective of Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities

The objective of the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities is to provide scholarships to meritorious students belonging to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of minority communities to increase their attainment rate in higher education, enhance their employability and offer them better opportunities for higher education. 

Scope of Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities

Under this scheme, scholarships are awarded to students studying in a government college or private higher secondary college, school or university, including residential institutions of the government and eligible private institutions notified and selected by the concerned state/UT administration.

Scholarships will be awarded for technical and vocational courses in industrial training centres or institutes affiliated with the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) of classes XII and XI, including polytechnics and other courses. However, this scheme does not cover a course of less than one-year duration.

Eligibility of Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities

• Students studying in Classes XI and XII, including vocational and technical courses, ITI courses, polytechnics and other courses. 
• Students scoring above 50% marks or equivalent grades in the previous final examination.
• The annual income of students whose guardians’ or parents income from all sources is more than Rs.2 lakh.
• Students belonging to minority communities, such as Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Jain, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis).
• 30% scholarship is set aside for girls of each minority community in a State/UT.
• Maximum of two students from a family are eligible.

Benefits of Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities 

Under this scheme, financial assistance will be provided to students for admission, course/tuition fee, and maintenance allowance. However, these fees and allowances are provided subject to a maximum ceiling as provided below:

Application for Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities

The eligible students must apply for the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). The process is as follows:

• Visit NSP and click the ‘New Registration’ option under the ‘Applicant Corner’ tab.
• Go through the instructions, select the undertakings, and click the ‘Continue’ button. 
• Fill in the required details on the ‘Fresh Registration Application’ form and click the ‘Submit’ button.
• The students will receive the ‘Student Application ID’ and ‘Password’ on their mobile numbers.
• Visit the NSP and click the ‘Fresh Application’ option under the ‘Applicant Corner’ tab.
• Enter the ‘Student Application ID’ and ‘Password’, and click the ‘Login’ button.
• Click on the ‘Ministry of Minority Affairs’ option and fill out and submit the ‘Post Matric Scholarships Scheme for Minorities’ application form.

Documents for Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities

• Income certificate issued from the competent authority in the respective State/UT
• Self-certified community certificate from the student 
• Self-attested mark sheet of  the previous qualifying exam
• Verification form from the Institution
• Fee receipt of the current course year
• Bank account number along with the IFSC Code
• Aadhaar number

Renewal of Scholarship 

The scholarship under the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Minorities is provided for one academic year. Thus, students must renew the scholarships for the next academic year of the course by producing a certificate that they have secured 50% marks in the previous year’s examination.