scholarshipnbu.com: PM YOUNG ACHIEVERS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD SCHEME FOR VIBRANT INDIA FOR OBCs AND OTHERS (PM

PM YOUNG ACHIEVERS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD SCHEME FOR VIBRANT INDIA FOR OBCs AND OTHERS (PM –YASASVI)

(2021-2022 to 2025-26)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE & EMPOWERMENT

Department of Social Justice & Empowerment

1. BACKGROUND:

The vision of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is to build an inclusive society wherein members of the target groups can lead productive, safe and dignified lives with adequate support for their growth and development. It aims to support and empower its target groups through programmes of educational, economic and social development, and rehabilitation, wherever necessary. In order to achieve its vision, the Ministry implements various Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CS/CSS) for vulnerable groups comprising of Other Backward Class (OBCs), Economically Backward Class (EBC) andDe-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNT/S-NT). A Backward Classes Division has been constituted by the Ministry which is responsible for the policy, planning and implementation of programmes relating to the social and economic empowerment of OBCs/EBCs/DNTs.

Ministry has identified the key indicators for socio-economic development of OBC/EBC/DNT community by proposing an umbrella scheme for educational empowerment by giving all scholarship schemes a uniform pattern and platform to make it more competitive with other lucrative schemes to widen the network. Some sections of the OBCs are still backward in socio-economic terms. AsperNSSO(2009-10)66thRound,the estimated population of OBCs is 41.7 per cent as opposed to 16.6 per cent of SC population, as per 2011 National Census. Moreover, as per the then Planning Commission’s report 2011-12 out of total population of OBCs, 21.9% are below poverty line. However the overall numbers are expected to have been multiplied by now.

The existing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Pre-Matric Scholarship for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) Students and Post-Matric Scholarship for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) schemes were formulated in the year 1998-99. Further the scheme for educational empowerment of EBC/DNT was launched in the year 2014-15. All these scholarship schemes have been operational since their inception. The schemes aim towards educational empowerment of the socio-economically backward classes, thereby facilitating the completion of education of the most vulnerable sections of the target population. However, the absence of a national census for the identification of OBC/EBC/DNT community hasadverselyimpactedtheoutreachoftheschemes,preventingalarge number of potential beneficiaries from availing the schemebenefits.

2. SCHEME COMPONENTS: Keeping in view the present implementation status, an umbrella scheme namely “PM YOUNG ACHIEVERS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD SCHEME FOR VIBRANT INDIA FOR OBCs AND OTHERS (PM –YASASVI)” for OBC,EBC and DNT students has been formulated having following five sub-schemes:

(i) Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students

(ii) Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students

(iii) Top Class School Education for OBC, EBC and DNT Students

(iv) Top Class College Education for OBC, EBC and DNT Students

(v) Construction of Hostel for OBC Boys and Girls

(A) CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEME OF PRE-MATRIC SCHOLARSHIPS TO OBC, EBC AND DNT STUDENTS

1. OBJECTIVE

The objective of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT students (who are not covered under SC, ST or OBC) is welfare and motivation to the children of these categories by providing financial assistance at pre matriculation or secondary stage.

2. SCOPE

2.1. Scholarship under the Scheme will be available for studies in India only and will be awarded by the Government of the State/Union Territory to which the applicant belongs i.e. where he is domiciled.

2.2. The scholarship will be provided for students studying in Government Schools only.

3. CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY

3.1. The scholarships are open to Nationals of India only.

3.2. Scholarship award will be sanctioned in the case of students whose parents/guardians income from all sources does not exceed Rs.2,50,000/- per annum.

3.3. The students should be studying in class IX and X on a full-time basis in Government Schools only.

3.4. They should belong to either of OBC, EBC and DNT (who are not covered under SC, ST or OBC) categories through valid certificate.

3.5. A scholarship holder under this scheme will not hold any other educational scholarship for the purpose of studying in class IX and X. If awarded any other educational scholarship for studying in classes IX and X, the students can avail of either of the two scholarships as per his/her choice and should inform the awarding authority to the Head of the Institution about the option made.

3.6 The condition stipulated in this Ministry’s notification no. 428 dated 16.02.2017 relating to provisions contained in Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016 are to be followed with further stipulation that if, for any reason, the authentication of Aadhaar fails in respect of any applicant, such an individual should be permitted to establish his/her identity by any other means so that genuine persons are not deprived of their benefits.

3.7 Income Certificate is required to be taken once only, i.e. at the time of admission to courses.

4. COVERAGE VALUE OF SCHOLARSHIP 4.1 The students shall be given a consolidated academic allowance of Rs. 4000/- per annum.

5. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY

5.1 The scheme will be implemented and administered in accordance with the procedures, state specific level conditions, laid down by the State Govts./UT Administration in this regard.

5.2 While all the OBC, EBC and DNT students with parents’/guardians’ annual income of uptoRs 2.50 lakh per annum are eligible, the State Government will make special efforts to identify the poorest eligible households from various sources and enroll students under the scheme in a mission mode. Further, these students would be monitored on regular basis so that they continue with their studies. Such students shall include (i) students from households with three or more deprivations as per SECC-2011 (ii) students from households where one or both the parents are illiterate.

5.3 The States/UTs may adopt methodology suitable to the local conditions for identification of such students e.g. OBC/EBC/DNT majority districts/blocks/villages may be taken first for identification of the poorest students. In this regard, help of local bodies, Municipal Corporations etc. may be taken.

5.4 Awareness drive shall be undertaken by the State Governments/UTs about the scheme through the Gram Panchayats Notice Boards, school committees, and discussions in the parent-teacher association meetings and other public awareness measures, in order to extend its coverage and also minimize any misuse by unscrupulous elements.

5.5 State Government should ensure that the beneficiary, at the time of admission, applies for the scholarship also. In this regard, the State Government may open facilitation centers or nominate a nodal officer in the educational institutions so that the entry into the student database for renewals and fresh admissions can be done in a stipulated timeframe.

5.6 The State Governments shall strive to put in place a scholarship portal that has all features as prescribed and share the data on a real-time basis with the Central portal.

5.7 The State/Central Government shall have robust monitoring systems, including field inspections, social audits, data analytics etc. so that timely payments are made to eligible beneficiaries.

6. APPLICATION FOR SCHOLARSHIP AND VERIFICATION

6.1 The concerned State Governments and Union Territory Administrations will lay down the detailed procedure for selection of students, which shall not be in contravention to these guidelines.

6.2 Application-on-the-day-of-admission: The institutions/ schools shall ensure that all students admitted to their institution apply on the IT portal for the scholarship on the same day as the date of admission into the institution.

6.3. On the day of admission itself, the institution shall verify on the scholarship portal that the student has taken admission in the institution and is now a bonafide student of the institution.

6.4 In case of renewal students, the student shall be auto-renewed based on the attendance and confirmation from the institution of the student having been promoted to the next class and having joined back the School/ Institution.

7. DURATION AND RENEWAL OF SCHOLARSHIP

7.1 The scholarship, once awarded, may be renewed during next academic year also by the concerned State Government/ Union Territory Administration unless the competent authority of the school recommends to the State Government/ Union Territory Administration, to discontinue the award with reference to relevant clause of these regulations governing the scheme.

7.2 The award once made will be payable until the student passes Class X, subject to satisfactory academic performance and attendance of 75% in every academic year. The attendance will be verified through Aadhaar based attendance System.

7.3 If a scholar is unable to appear in the annual examination owing to illness, the award may be renewed subject to production of medical certificate from prescribed authority and acceptance of the same by institution.

7.4 Scholarship for studying in any class will be available for only one year. If a student has to repeat a class, she/he would not get scholarship for that class for a second (or subsequent) year.

8. ANNOUNCEMENT OF SCHEME

The scheme will be announced by the concerned State Government/ UT Administration well in time, by giving advertisements in the leading language newspapers, local dailies and through their respective websites/ Scholarship portals and other modes of media.

9. ANNUAL ACTION PLAN

9.1 Every participating State/UT, on or before 28th February of the preceding year, will prepare a State level Annual Plan for the Pre-Matric OBC and others. The Action Plan should give clearly the targets, eligibility, proposed coverage separately for poorest households, processes for identification, systems for monitoring etc.

9.2 The Department will constitute a Project Appraisal Committee (PAC) to appraise and approve the Annual Action Plans w.e.f 2022-23. These plans would be appraised at the Centre and the outlay for each State would be finalized before 30th April, of every year. The constitution of the committee will be informed through separate instructions.

10. TIMELINES FOR THE SCHEME: All the States/UTs/Centre would adhere to the following timelines for processing of the applications and release of scholarship amounts during a financial year:

Sl.No

LineofAction

Timeline

Finalization of Notional Allocation

By 1stApril of the F.Y.

Submission of proposal by the States/UTs withinNotionalAllocation

By 30th April of the F.Y.

Opening of Portal for registration by students

1st April

Closing of Portal for registration

30th June

Verification by the institutions to be completed

31st July

Verification by the State Govt

15th August

Release of Central Assistance into the SNA, as per the data uploaded on to the central portal

31st August

Payment of scholarships by the State Govt using DBT process (before)

30th September

11. MODE OF APPLYING

All applications shall be submitted on the online portal along with the required certificates. There shall be no paper applications. All online applications shall be auto-verified by linking the databases of the income and caste certificates, so as to minimize the manual verification.

12. 'FUNDS-LIMITED' NATURE OF THE SCHEME

12.1 There will be a 60: 40 sharing ratio between the Centre and States. For North Eastern States and for the states of Uttarakhand and Himanchal Pradesh the sharing ratio will be 90:10. For UTs without legislatures, 100% funds shall be provided by Centre. The central assistance for the scheme will be apportioned to States on pro-rata basis, based on population and other such criteria. Accordingly, a notional allocation (NA) under the Scheme shall be conveyed at the beginning of each financial year to States/UTs, with the request to send proposals within the NA. The broad procedure followed is as below:

(i) At the beginning of each financial year, notional allocation(NA) of funds of States/UTs is made by this Ministry, from the overall annual outlay of the Scheme, on the basis of population of each State/UT.

(ii) States/UTs will incur expenditure under the Scheme at least to the sum total of "Central Assistance or NA and matching State share".

(iii) However, they would be free to allocate funds from the State-Plan, over and above the sum total of "Central Assistance or Notional Allocation and matching State share" for funding additional scholarship under the Scheme. Any such additional expenditure will have to be borne by the State Government/UT Administration itself, and will generally not be eligible for reimbursement from the Centre. However, such additional expenditure incurred by a State /UT may be considered and additional central assistance may be provided subject to availability of saving in notional allocation, towards the end of a financial year.

12.2 The entire scholarship amount - both from the State and Central Government - including the academic allowance and disability allowance, if any, will be paid directly into the account of the students or parents ONLY through DBT preferably through an Aadhaar Based Payment System (Aadhaar Payment Bridge-AePS).

12.3 The State Govt./UTs are required to adhere Deptt. of Expenditure (MoF), GoI’s OM No. l(13)/PFMS/FCD/2020 dated 23.03 2021 regarding the procedure for release of funds under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and monitoring utilization of funds with a

view to have more effective cash management and bring more transparency in the PEM. The procedure will be followed by all the State Governments and UTs regarding release and monitoring of funds under CSS.

12.4 The Ministry of Social Justice vide notification number 428 dated Feb,16,2017 has notified Aadhaar as identity document under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act 2016 for all Scholarship Schemes w.e.f. 16th February 2017. The authentication through Aadhaar would be compulsory at the time of renewals, if not provided earlier at the time of admission.

12.5 The implementation of the scheme would be in accordance with the provisions of GFR 2017. Submission of UC should be as per prescribed forms as per GFR, 2017. Further, as per provisions of rule 230(8) of GFR, 2017, all interest or other earnings against Grants-in- aid or advances released to any grantee institution should be mandatorily remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India immediately after finalization of accounts.

12.6 Administrative Charges: The administrative cost for administration, monitoring and evaluation shall be limited to 1% of the annual scheme cost. The cost would be utilized for development of portal, conduct of social audits, publicity and awareness or any other activity for the efficient implementation of the scheme.

13. IT SYSTEMS AND DATABASE OF THE BENEFICIARIES

13.1. The scheme shall be run on an online platform with robust cyber security measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays. The National Scholarship Portal (NSP) would be suitably modified for this purpose.

13.2. If any State is already running an online portal that fulfills all the laid down parameters, they can continue with it, but shall share the data on real-time basis to the National Scholarship Portal or any other portal as specified by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment in due course through instructions for enabling constant monitoring. Therefore, all States/UTs implementing the scheme will migrate to online processing of disbursal of scholarships, where not already done. The scholarship portal should mandatorily have the following features:

a) At the time of admission, every student should provide an Aadhaar ID/Aadhaar EID and other alternative form of ID as per this Ministry’s notification no. 428 dated 16.02.2017 which will enable elimination of duplication and false claims. The Aadhaar authentication is mandatory in case of renewals, if not provided at the time of admission. The Aadhaar number entered by the students should go through demo-auth on real-time basis before allowing entry into the registration portal.

b) The States shall undertake fool-proof verification of the eligibility, caste status, Aadhaar identification and bank account details on the online portal.

c) There shall be no upload of any documents or any certificates into the system. All data should be auto-verified by linking databases through digilocker or any such mechanism, such as database of income certificates, domicile and caste certificates issued by State/District Administration, using Aadhaar number as the link.

d) All verification process of the students should be done using the above authenticated databases automatically using the digital process with little or no manual intervention. There should be no system of verification by the institutions or even the district level officers. Till such time such a system is put in place, the manual verification shall be completed within 30 days from the date of application, with a provision for 'presumed approval' if the same is not completed within 30 days.

e) A suitable system will be put in place for taking Aadhaar based attendance system which is non-intrusive and automatic. Till such a system is finalized by the Central Govt., the institution shall upload the attendance of the scholarship holder every month in the Attendance module that would be developed in the IT system.

f) There shall be no system of calling for the bank account details of the students and authenticating it. All payments should preferably go through Aadhaar Based Payment System (APB – Aadhaar Payment Bridge) after checking the Aadhaar number with the NPCI mapper.

g) The renewals should be automatic based on promotion to the next class and having the required attendance, subject to confirmation of the student having joined back the same course. There should not be any requirement for the student to apply for renewals.

h) Apart from this, the States shall maintain a complete database of the beneficiaries under various other scholarship schemes to ensure de-duplication of the beneficiaries.

13.3 All the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations implementing the scheme will maintain the data of all the beneficiaries along with the amount of scholarship on their online portal.

13.4 The servers of the State Governments shall be synchronized with the central server on a real-time basis so that at any point of time, the central server shall reflect the data of the whole country.

14. MONITORING AND EVALUATION:

14.1 The monitoring of the financial and physical performance of the scheme will be done through seeking detailed information from the Agencies implementing the Scheme. On the physical aspects the Agencies implementing the scheme will be required to furnish quarterly progress report regarding the number of beneficiaries receiving award under the scheme, both class-wise and gender-wise. On the financial year and expenditure proposed for the present financial year will be submitted by the Agencies concerned.

14.2 The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment may get the scheme evaluated by entrusting a research study to reputed institutions/ agencies, on the performance of the Scheme in different parts of the country, under this Ministry's centrally sponsored Scheme of Research and Training.

14.3 There shall be thorough evaluation of the outcomes of the scheme in regular intervals to ascertain the effectiveness of scheme implementation and for tracking the progress of the students. This may include conduct of social audits once a year, annual third-party evaluation, and half-yearly self-audited reports from each institution.

14.4 The social audits are to be conducted by the Social Audit Units of the State Governments formed by the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India duly meeting the cost from the administrative cost of the scheme.

14.5 The State Government shall also set up a robust monitoring mechanism for monitoring the academic progress of the students enrolled to the scheme.

15. MECHANISM FOR REDRESSAL OF GRIEVANCES

15.1. There shall be an online grievance redressal mechanism linking all the authorities responsible for implementation on the scholarship portal.

15.2. The student shall be able to lodge a grievance either through the portal or by a mobile app.

15.3. Every institution shall have a Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) who is responsible for entertaining the grievances and resolving them by following up with the appropriate authority.

15.4. The non-resolution of the grievance at the institution level in a given time frame shall automatically be escalated to the district and later to the State level for resolution.

16. OTHER CONDITIONS FOR AWARD:

16.1 If a student violates school discipline or any other terms and conditions of the scholarship, scholarship may be suspended or even cancelled, subject to the satisfaction of the competent school authority. The State Government/ Union Territory Administrations can also directly cancel the award if duly satisfied of the reasons of violation of these regulations governing the scheme.

16.2 Migration of students from one institution to another would not normally be allowed during the course of academic year except under exceptional circumstances and in the interest

of student's academic career.

16.3. The scholar obtaining benefits under this scheme shall not be allowed to avail of benefits under any other pre-matric scholarship scheme.

16.4 Only two boys of the same parents/guardian will be entitled to receive scholarships. This restriction will, however, not apply to girls. Accordingly, scholarship availed by girls of same parents/guardian will not adversely affect admissibility of availing scholarship upto two boys of same parents/guardian.

16.5Regular attendance record not less than 75% in the previous year should be prerequisite for availing scholarship.

16.6 At least 5% students with disabilities should be covered for grant of the scholarships.

30% of the beneficiaries should be reserved for girl students.

16.7 If a student is found to have obtained a scholarship by false statements, his/ her scholarship will be cancelled forthwith and the amount of the scholarship paid will be recovered, at the discretion of the concerned State Government. The student concerned will be blacklisted and debarred for scholarship in any scheme forever.

16.8The provisions of this scheme can be changed at any time at the discretion of the Government of India.

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(B) Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC, EBC and DNT Students for studying in India

1. OBJECTIVE

The objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to the OBC, EBC and DNT students studying at post-matriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education.

2. SCOPE

These scholarships shall be available for studies in India only and will be awarded by the Government of State/Union Territory to which the applicant actually belongs, i.e. permanently settled.

3. DEFINITIONS

a) " Group 1: Degree and Post Graduate level professional courses" shall mean: all Professional courses in Medicine, Engineering, Technology, Planning, Architecture , Design, Fashion Technology, Agriculture, Veterinary & Allied Sciences, Management, Business Finance /Administration, Computer Science/ Applications (ii) Post Graduate Diploma courses in various branches of Management & Medicine(iii) C.A./I.C.W.A./C.S./1.C.F.A. etc. (iv) M.Phil., Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Programmes (D.Lit., D.Sc. etc.) of Group I, Group II and Group Ill courses .(v) L.L.B, Integrated LL B, L.L.M (vi) Commercial Pilot License Courses from GoI institutes (including helicopter pilot and multiengine) (maximum 20 slots per annum)

b) " Group 2: Other Professional Courses leading to Degree, Diploma, Certificate" shall mean all Professional Courses leading to Degree, M Ed. / M. Pharma., Diploma, Certificate in areas like Pharmacy (B Pharma.), Nursing(B Nursing), BFS, other paramedical branches like rehabilitation, diagnostics etc., Mass Communication, Hotel Management & Catering, Travel/Tourism/Hospitality Management, Interior Decoration, Nutrition& Dietetics, Commercial Art, Financial Services (e.g. Banking, Insurance, Taxation etc.) for which entrance qualification is minimum Sr. Secondary (10+2) and Vocational stream , ITI courses and Polytechnic where entrance qualification is Class XII or above.

c) "Group 3: Graduate and Post Graduate course" shall mean: courses not covered under Group 1& Group 2 e.g. BA / B.Sc. / B.Com etc. M.A/ M. Sc./ M.Com etc.

d) "Group 4: All post-matriculation (Post Class X level) non-degree courses" shall

mean: All post-matriculation level non-degree courses for which entrance qualification is High School (Class X), e.g. Senior secondary certificate (class XI and XII ); both general and vocational stream , ITI courses , 3 year diploma courses in Polytechnics, etc.

Note: The list of courses in various groups is indicative and States/UTs may add courses as per laid down standard in the State/UT.

e) "Freeship Card" shall mean: A card issued by the State Govt/ UT Administration that entitles a student eligible for scholarship under this Scheme, to take admission in an institution, without pre-payment of tuition fee and hostel fee.

4. ELIGIBILITY OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

4.1 Only such educational Institutions which maintain the laid down academic standards shall be covered under the scheme. The following conditions regarding the courses offered, performance of the institution, Aadhaar based attendance system are also required to be adhered to by the Institutions/Universities/Colleges in order to be eligible under the scheme:

i. Only Institutions/Colleges with the 'AISHE Code'/UDISE' Code' shall be eligible for the scholarship scheme. Based on the AISHE/UDISE-Code of the institution, all details of the institution such as - registration, affiliation and accreditation, courses being offered and number of seats approved for each course - will be pulled from the AISHE/UDISE server on to the scholarship portal automatically.

ii. All participating higher education institutions shall get NAAC/NBA accreditation before 2024, for continuation in the scheme from 2025-26 onwards.

iii. The scholarship benefits shall be linked with Aadhaar based attendance system. Therefore, the college/institution will maintain Aadhaar based attendance on a daily basis and will submit attendance details on the portal.

iv. The institutions will submit half-yearly self-audited reports to the State Governments in a prescribed format which shall be separately issued.

v. The institutions should be willing to honour the FREESHIP CARD issued by the State/District Authority through the scholarship portal and admit the student without insisting on pre-payment of the college/tuition fee or hostel fee. This would be paid by the student on release of the scholarship amount by the Government as per the provisions of this scheme. In this regard, the State Governments will coordinate with the institutions located in their respective States.

4.2 Scholarships will be given for the study of all recognized post-matriculation or postsecondary courses (Intermediate/Senior Secondary, Diploma, long-term Vocational Training Certificate, Graduate, Post Graduate courses etc.) pursued in recognized Institutions / Universities/ Colleges falling in any of the following 9 categories:

i. Institutions of National Importance;

ii. Central University/ State University/ Autonomous colleges recognized by UGC

and Universities /Colleges recognized under section 2(f) of UGC Act;

iii. Deemed Universities;

iv. All Private Universities recognized by State/Centre;

v. Private Professional Institutions affiliated to a recognized Central/State University and covered by a Fee Fixation Committee as mandated by Supreme Court;

vi. Recognized schools/colleges for Classes XI and class XII;

vii. Diploma granting Institutions as recognized by State/UT Governments;

viii. Vocational Training Institutes affiliated to National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT);

ix. Institutions affiliated/ approved by the appropriate bodies like NMC/AICTE etc. or any regulatory body established by State/UT/Centre.

Provided that where a particular number of seats for a particular course have been recognized/ authorized by the concerned regulatory authority, the scholarships shall be restricted to those numbers and courses .

5. CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBILITY

i. The scholarships will be open to Indian nationals belonging to OBCs, EBCs and DNTs, as notified by the Central Govt./State Govt./ UT Admin.

ii. These scholarships will be given for the study of all recognized post-matriculation or post-secondary courses pursued in recognized institutions as specified in para 3 above.

iii. Only those candidates who belong to OBCs/EBCs/DNTs so specified in relation to the State/UT to which the applicant actually belongs, i.e. permanently settled and who have passed the Matriculation or Higher secondary or any higher examination of a recognized University or Board of Secondary Education will be eligible.

iv. Candidates who, after passing one stage of education, are studying in the same stage of education in different subject e.g. B.Sc. after B.A or B.Com.after B.A. or M.A. in a subject after M.A in another subject will not be eligible.

v. Students who, after having completed their educational career in one professional line, e.g., LLB after B.T/B. Ed will not be eligible.

vi. Students studying in XI Class of the Higher Secondary School courses or the XII class of the Multipurpose High School will not be eligible for it being a continuous school course. However, in cases, where tenth class examination of such courses is treated as equivalent to Matriculation and students who after passing tenth class join other courses, such students will be treated as post-matric students and will be eligible for the award of scholarships.

vii. Students pursuing Post-graduate courses in medicine will be eligible only if they are not allowed to practice during the period of their course.

viii. Students who after failing or passing theUnder Graduate/Post-Graduate examinations in Arts/Science/Commerce join any recognized professional or Technical certificate/ diploma / degree courses will be awarded scholarships if otherwise eligible. No subsequent failure will be condoned except for courses in Group '1' and no further change in the course will be allowed thereafter.

ix. Students, who pursue their studies through correspondence/online courses, are also eligible. The term correspondence includes distant and continuous education for courses in Central/ State Universities only.

x. Only two boys of the same parents/guardian will be entitled to receive scholarships. This restriction will, however, not apply to girls. Accordingly, scholarship availed by girls of same parents/guardian will not adversely affect admissibility of availing scholarship upto two boys of same parents/guardian.

xi. A scholarship holder under this Scheme will not hold any other scholarship/ stipend. If awarded any other scholarship/ stipend, the students can exercise his/her option for either of the two Scholarships / stipends, whichever is more beneficial to him/her and should inform the awarding authority through the Head of the Institution about the option made. No scholarship will be paid to the students under this Scheme from the date he/she accepts anyother scholarships/ stipend. The student can however, accept free lodging or a grant or ad-hoc monetary help from the State Government or any other source for the purchase of books, equipment or for meeting the expenses on board and lodging, in addition to the scholarship amount paid under the Scheme.

xii. Scholarship holders who are receiving coaching in any of the pre-examination training centers with financial assistance from the Central Government/ State Government will not be eligible for stipend under the coaching schemes for the duration of the coaching programme.

xiii. The ceiling on age limit for admission as regular student in different classes should be decided by concerned Institutions.

xiv. Employed students whose income combined with the income of their parents/ guardians does not exceed Rs. 2.50 lakh per annum shall be eligible for post -matric scholarship.

xv. Unemployed students whose parents/guardians income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 2.50 lakh per annum will be entitled for the scholarship under the scheme.

Note 1: Income Certificate is required to be taken once only; i.e. at the time of admission of courses, which are continuing for more than one year.

Note 2: All seats filled through arbitrary and non-transparent processes (including management quota, NRI quota, spot admissions etc.) without following the merit criteria as decided by the State Government are not eligible for these scholarships. The fees claimed against management quota seats, spot admission seat in any Institution /University will not be reimbursed. In case of any contradiction on the classification of seats or non-clarity on the classification of seats in the State/UT, the following criteria may be followed:

If there is no arbitrariness/ discretion in the admission process and the fee for the course is fixed by the Fee Fixation/Fee Rationalization committee set up by the competent authority, the said seats may not be considered as the Management Quota Seats. However, the State Governments may satisfy themselves of the following before release of scholarships:

a) That the applicants claiming the scholarship have been admitted through a transparent process which involved calling of applications through advertisements, preparation of ranks, selection of candidates on merit list, and publication of selection list and others as deemed fit by the State Government;

b) That the fees for courses are duly approved by the Fee Fixation/Fee Rationalization Committee set up by the competent authority.

6. ROLE OF THE STATE GOVERNMENTS

6.1 All the OBC/EBC/DNT students with annual income of up to Rs 2.50 lakh per annum would be eligible under the scheme. However, the State Government will additionally make special efforts to identify the poorest households from various sources and enroll the eligible students under the scheme in a mission mode. Further, these students would be monitored on regular basis so that they continue with their studies. Such students shall include (i) students from OBC/EBC/DNT households with three or more deprivations as per SECC-2011 (ii) students from OBC/EBC/DNT households where one or both the parents are illiterate and (iii) the students who have passed 10th standard from a State Government/ Municipality/Local Body school. In this regard, States/UTs will launch special campaigns to identify and cover such students.

6.2 States/UTs may adopt methodology suitable to the local conditions for identification of such students e.g. OBC/EBC/DNT majority districts /blocks/villages may be taken first for identification of poorest students or students leaving class 10th or 12th class may be tracked in association with the education department or data emanating from other Central/State schemes indicating the dropouts rates or other sources as deemed fit. Every State Government shall undertake a campaign every year in March/April to identify such students and mentor them to enroll and avail scholarships. Such students will be helped for identification of courses also as per their skills.

6.3 Awareness drive shall be undertaken by the State Governments/UTs about the scheme through the Gram Panchayats Notice Boards, school committees, and discussions in the parent-teacher association meetings and other public awareness measures, in order to extend its coverage and also minimize any misuse by unscrupulous elements.

6.4 The States are required to take up identification of the students for fresh enrolment by taking up systematic drive covering all the higher secondary schools and encouraging the pupils who have dropped out after Class 12th to come back to higher education.

6.5 It is essential that the fresh enrolments to the extent possible are made in the courses which are having employment potential. For this purpose, the State may do an exercise in consultation with the Higher Education Department of the State Government, and the State Skill Mission for identifying courses which would improve the employment potential of the students. It is strongly advised that fresh enrolment may be made in these courses. Such skill courses should be long term courses with periodicity of at least 1 year and conducted by the institutions as per Para 4 of the scheme guidelines.

6.6. State Government will ensure that the beneficiary, at the time of admission, applies for the scholarship also. In this regard, the State Government may open facilitation centers or nominate a nodal officer in the educational institutions so that the entry into the student database for renewals and fresh admissions can be done in a stipulated timeframe.

6.7 The State Governments shall strive to put in place a scholarship portal that has all features and share the data on a real-time basis with the Central portal.

6.8 The State/Central Government shall have robust monitoring systems, including field inspections, social audits, data analytics etc. so that timely payments are made to eligible beneficiaries.

6.9 States/UTs shall ensure that Fee Rationalization/Fixation Committees are set up for all courses.

6.10 The State Govt./UTs are required to adhere Deptt. of Expenditure, (MoF), GoI’s OM No. l(13)/PFMS/FCD/2020 dated 23rd March, 2021 regarding the procedure for release of funds under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and monitoring utilization of funds with a view to have more effective cash management and bring more transparency in the PEM. The procedure will be followed by all the State Governments and UTs regarding release and monitoring of funds under CSS.

7. COMPONENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

7.1 The scholarship includes the following components for the complete duration of the course:-

Category of courses

Yearly (in Rs)

Academic Allowance

Tuition Fee

Total

Group 1: Degree and Post Graduate level professional courses

10000

20000

Group 2: Other Professional Courses leading to Degree, Diploma, Certificate

8000

5000

13000

Group 3: Graduate and Post Graduate courses not covered under Group I & Group II

6000

2000

8000

Group 4: All post-matriculation (Post Class X level) non-degree courses

5000

Note 1. Students pursuing C A . /I.C.W.A. /C.S. /1.C.F.A. shall be treated as day scholars for the purpose of academic allowance. Students studying through correspondence /online courses shall not be eligible for academic allowance.

Note 2. Tuition fees shall be paid to online/correspondence students.

7.2 The State Governments may, if they so decide, top up the academic allowance from their own resources.

8. FREESHIP CARD AND PROCESS FOR ISSUE

8.1 All eligible students shall be entitled to take admission in the institutions without prepayment of tuition fees and hostel fees as per the Scheme Guidelines. To enable this, a FREESHIP CARD will be issued by the State Government to the eligible students, as per procedure detailed below. This Freeship card shall make the student eligible to study in the institution without pre-payment of the fees, and on the condition that as and when amount is released to the student's account, the institution would be intimated to collect the same from the student.

8.2 The student shall, well before the expected date of admission, register for issuance of a Freeship Card on the respective scholarship portal giving the details like the Aadhaar number, the name of the course in which he/she wants to take admission (e.g. MBBS, B.Sc., Class XI etc.) and an undertaking that the institution's charges would be paid within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the scholarship amount in his/her account. For the purpose of registration of Freeship Card, the portals shall remain open throughout the year.

8.3 The verification of the income, caste and merit details should be automatically done from the databases which are linked online for instant verification. The process should be entirely paperless. Until the above system is brought into effect, the documents may be scanned and uploaded which include: passport size photograph , copy of each of the certificates for diploma, degree etc. in respect of all examinations passed, Caste certificate duly signed by the authorized officer, valid Income certificate issued by the competent

authority as prescribed by the State Govt. etc.

8.4 After the registration on the Portal, if the student is found eligible, all States/UTs will complete the verification process within 30 days from the receipt of the registration request from the students and issue the Freeship Card through the IT portal, mentioning the course for which application is made so that the eligible students are not denied admissions due to delay in depositing tuition fees. It should be possible for the student to download the Free Ship Card from the portal itself. Once complete digitization of all the required certificates is done, such Freeship Card shall be automatically generated immediately on registration, if the student is found eligible.

8.5 The Freeship Card shall contain the details given in Annexure-1, and shall be digitally signed. For the purpose of admission, the Freeship card will remain valid for period of one year from the date of issue.

8.6 If a student wants to change his/her course before taking admission in an institution, he can do so by logging on IT portal and a fresh Freeship Card shall be issued automatically for all eligible students.

8.7 In case of renewal students, there shall be no need for fresh registration for the Freeship card and a card once issued to him/her shall be valid for the entire duration of the course.

9. PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING AND VERIFICATION

9.1 Application-on-the-day-of-admission: The institutions shall ensure that all students admitted to their institution and having Freeship Cards issued as detailed in para 8 of these Guidelines, apply on the IT portal for the scholarship, along with documents needs to be uploaded as notified by the prescribed authority, on the same day as the date of admission into the institution.

9.2 On the day of admission itself, the institution shall verify on the scholarship portal that the student has taken admission in the institution with the same course as mentioned on the Freeship card and is now a bonafide student of the institution.

9.3. In case of renewal students, the student shall be auto-renewed based on the attendance and confirmation from the institution of the student having been promoted to the next class and having joined back the same course as hosteller/day scholar, as the case may be.

10. SELECTION OF CANDIDATES

All the eligible OBC/EBC/DNT candidates will be given scholarships subject to the condition of eligibility prescribed in the Scheme, Candidates belonging to one State, but studying in another State, will be awarded scholarship by the State to which they belong and will submit their applications to the competent authorities in that State. In the matter of exemption from fee or other concessions also, they will be treated as studying in their own State.

11. DURATION AND RENEWAL OF AWARDS

11.1 The award once made will be payable up to the completion of the course subject to satisfactory academic performance and attendance of 75% in every academic year. The attendance will be verified through Aadhaar based attendance System.

11.2 If a scholar is unable to appear in the annual examination owing to illness, the award may be renewed subject to production of medical certificate from prescribed authority and acceptance of the same by institution /college.

11.3 If, according to the Regulations of a University/Institution, a student is promoted to the next higher class even though he/she may not have actually passed in lower class and is required to take examination of the junior class again after sometime, he/she will be entitled to scholarship for the class to which he/she is promoted if the student is otherwise eligible for scholarship. Further, in case a student fails in any class and then again joins the same class as a regular student, he/she will be eligible for scholarship for one additional year or the actual period, whichever is lower.

11.4 If a scholar is pursuing Group I course fails in the examination for the first time, the award may be renewed. For second and subsequent failures in any class the student shall bear his/her own expenses until he/she secures promotion to the next higher class.

12. PAYMENT MECHANISM

12.1 The scholarship portals would remain open throughout the year so that all eligible students can register for the Freeship Card and apply for the scholarships.

12.2 The entire scholarship amount - both from the State and Central Government - including the tuition fees, academic allowance and any other admissible allowance will be paid directly into the account of the students ONLY through DBT preferably through an Aadhaar Based Payment System (Aadhaar Payment Bridge) from 2021-22 . The States shall preferably release the payments through PFMS System so that the accounts of the students are not required to be validated again.

12.3 Scholarship will not be paid for the period of internship/housemanship in the M.B.B.S course or for a practical training in other course if the student is in receipt of some remuneration during the internship period or some allowance/ stipend during the practical training in other course.

12.4 30% of the funds allocated earmarked for girl students and 5% for students with disabilities.

12.5 Depending on availability of funds, first preference in disbursement of scholarships would be given to students of Government Institutions and then to students of Government aided institutions and thereafter disbursement will be made to the students of unaided private institutions.

12.6 The Ministry of Social Justice vide notification number 428 dated Feb,16,2017 has notified Aadhaar as identity document under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act 2016 for all Scholarship Schemes w.e.f. 16th February 2017.

12.7 The authentication through Aadhaar would be compulsory at the time of renewals, if not provided earlier at the time of admission.

13. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SCHEME

13.1 All the State Governments/UT Administrations will announce starting from April, the details of the Scheme and invite applications by issuing an advertisement in the leading newspapers of the State and through their respective websites/ Scholarship portals and other modes of media. The applicant should submit the completed application to the prescribed authority on the portal specified for this purpose before the last date prescribed for receipt of applications.

14. 'FUNDS-LIMITED' NATURE OF THE SCHEME

14.1 Due to budgetary constraint and 'funds limited' nature of the existing Scheme, it is not possible for the Central Government to meet the entire demand of the States/UTs. Therefore, a Notional Allocation (NA) under the Scheme shall be conveyed at the beginning of the financial year to States/UTs in proportion to total population as per census. The States/UTs are expected to send proposals within the notional allocation.

14.2 States/UTs will sub-allocate their NA, district-wise and group-wise, for all non- professional courses. Such sub-allocation would not be necessary for professional courses, as institutions of professional education tend to be concentrated in major cities/centres. However, the State Government is expected to lay down criteria for selection for award of scholarship under both types of courses, professional and non-professional, to the extent of available funds, based on merit-cum-means.

14.3 States will earmark at least 25% of the total outlay under the Scheme for Group 4 courses which include Class-XI and XII and all other post-matriculation level non-degree courses, diploma· courses in polytechnics etc. Such earmarking would encourage more target

students to join entry-level courses of tertiary education which would enable them subsequently to take up courses leading to higher qualifications.

14.4 Central assistance given to a State/UT would have to be first utilized to cover renewal cases ·(i.e. students already awarded scholarships during the previous years against Central Assistance), and only the balance amount left may be utilized to cover new cases.

14.5 The proposal or Central Assistance should be accompanied with the details of physical and financial progress in the prescribed proforma.

14.6 As the total demand of the States/UTs cannot be covered under the Central Assistance, the States/UTs shall provide remaining scholarship grants to the eligible students from their own budget.

15. FUNDING PATTERN OF THE SCHEME

15.1 There will be a 60: 40 sharing ratio between the Centre and States. For North Eastern States and for the states of Uttarakhand and Himanchal Pradesh the sharing ratio will be 90:10. For UTs without legislatures, 100% funds shall be provided by Centre. The central assistance for the scheme will be apportioned to States on pro-rata basis, based on total population and other such criteria. Accordingly, a notional allocation (NA) under the Scheme shall be conveyed at the beginning of each financial year to States/UTs, with the request to send proposals within the NA. The broad procedure followed is as below:

a) At the beginning of each financial year, notional allocation(NA) of funds of States/UTs is made by this Ministry, from the overall annual outlay of the Scheme, on the basis of population of each State/UT.

b) States/UTs will incur expenditure under the Scheme at least to the sum total of "Central Assistance or NA and matching State share".

c) However, they would be free to allocate funds from the State-Plan, over and above the sum total of "Central Assistance or NA and matching State share" for funding additional scholarship under the Scheme. Any such additional expenditure will have to be borne by the State Government/UT Administration itself, and will generally not be eligible for reimbursement from the Centre. However, such additional expenditure incurred by a State /UT may be considered for reimbursement by the Central Government, to the extent of availability of savings (mainly from States which are not able to fully avail of their notional allocation, for any reason), towards the end of a financial year.

15.2 The entire scholarship amount - both from the State and Central Government - including the academic allowance and disability allowance, if any, will be paid directly into the account of the students or parents ONLY through DBT preferably through an Aadhaar Based Payment System (Aadhaar Payment Bridge-AePS).

15.3 The State Govt./UTs are required to adhere Deptt. of Expenditure, (MoF), GoI’s OM No. l(13)/PFMS/FCD/2020 dated 23.03.2021 regarding the procedure for release of funds under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and monitoring utilization of funds with a view to have more effective cash management and bring more transparency in the PEM. The procedure will be followed by all the State Governments and UTs regarding release and monitoring of funds under CSS.

15.4 The Ministry of Social Justice vide notification number 428 dated Feb,16,2017 has notified Aadhaar as identity document under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act 2016 for all Scholarship Schemes w.e.f. 16th February 2017. The authentication through Aadhaar would be compulsory at the time of renewals, if not provided earlier at the time of admission.

15.5 The implementation of the scheme would be in accordance with the provisions of GFR 2017. Submission of UC should be as per prescribed forms as per GFR, 2017. Further, as per provisions of rule 230(8) of GFR, 2017, all interest or other earnings against Grants-in- aid or advances released to any grantee institution should be mandatorily remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India immediately after finalization of accounts.

15.6 Administrative Charges: The administrative cost for administration, monitoring and evaluation shall be limited to 1% of the annual scheme cost. The cost would be utilized for development of portal, conduct of social audits, publicity and awareness or any other activity for the efficient implementation of the scheme.

16. IT FRAMEWORK

16.1 The scheme shall be run on an online platform with robust cyber security measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays. The online portal would be suitably modified for this purpose.

16.2 If any State is already a running online portal that fulfils all the laid down parameters, they can continue with it, but share the data on real-time basis to the National Scholarship Portal or any other portal as specified by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment in due course through instructions for enabling constant monitoring. Therefore, all States/UTs implementing the scheme will migrate to online processing of disbursal of scholarships, where not already done. The scholarship portal should mandatorily have the following features:

a) The IT portal shall be integrated with the AISHE/UDISE portal for pulling the data about the institution in which the student has taken admission.

b) At the time of registration for Freeship Card, every student should provide an Aadhaar ID/Aadhaar EID and other alternative form of ID as per this Ministry's notification no. 428 dated 16.02.2017 which will enable elimination of duplication and false claims. The Aadhaar authentication is mandatory in case of renewals, if not provided at the time of admission. The Aadhaar number entered by the students should go through demo-auth on real-time basis before allowing entry into the registration portal.

c) The States shall undertake fool-proof verification of the eligibility, caste status, Aadhaar identification and bank account details on the online portal.

d) There shall be no upload of any documents or any certificates into the system. All data should be auto-verified by linking databases through digilocker or any such mechanism, such as (i) school boards' results, including the CBSE/ICSE along with the certificates maintained by them; (ii) database of income certificates, domicile and caste certificates issued by State/District Administration and (iii) databases maintained by the Universities and Colleges, using Aadhaar number as the link.

e) All verification process of the students should be done using the above authenticated databases automatically using the digital process with little or no manual intervention. There should be no system of verification by the institutions or even the district level officers. Till such time such a system is put in place, the manual verification shall be completed within 30 days from the date of application, with a provision for 'presumed approval' if the same is not completed within 30 days.

f) A suitable system will be put in place for taking Aadhaar based attendance system which is non-intrusive and automatic. Till such a system is finalized by the Central Govt., the institution shall upload the attendance of the scholarship holder every month in the Attendance module that would be developed in the IT system.

g) There shall be no system of calling for the bank account details of the students and authenticating it. All payments should preferably go through Aadhaar Based Payment System (APB - Aadhaar Payment Bridge) after checking the Aadhaar number with the NPCI mapper.

h) The renewals should be automatic based on promotion to the next class and having the required attendance, subject to confirmation of the student having joined back the same course as hosteller/day scholar, as the case may be. There should not be any requirement for the student to apply for renewals.

i) A performance module to monitor the progress of student as well as performance of the institution should be suitably designed and incorporated.

j) Apart from this, the States shall maintain a complete database of the beneficiaries under various other scholarship schemes to ensure de-duplication of the beneficiaries.

k) The portal shall incorporate an online grievance redressal mechanism linking all the authorities responsible for implementation on the scholarship portal.

l) There shall be a provision indicating the students of the poorest households, as per the parameters provided under the Scheme, selected for scholarship.

m) The portal will make arrangements so that the students, once declared blacklisted, may not be able to apply for scholarship again.

17. ANNUAL ACTION PLAN AND ANUAL ACTIV PLANT

17.1 Every participating State/UT, on or before 28th February of the preceding year , will prepare a State level Annual Plan for the scheme. In case the State has any other initiative on similar lines to this scheme, this may be mentioned separately in the Action Plan. The Action Plan should give clearly the targets, eligibility, proposed coverage separately for poorest households, processes for identification, identification of courses having employment potential, systems for monitoring etc.

17.2 The Department will constitute a Project Appraisal Committee to appraise and approve the Annual Action Plans. These plans would be appraised at the Centre and the outlay for each State would be finalized before 30th April, of every year as per the annual increase indicated under the funding pattern. The constitution of the committee will be informed through separate instructions.

18. TIMELINES FOR RELEASE OF FUNDS: All the States/UTs/Centre would adhere to the following timelines for processing of the applications and release of scholarship amounts during a financial year:

 The scholarship portals would remain open throughout the year so that all eligible students can register for the Freeship Card and apply for the scholarships.

 Disbursal of scholarships for all applications (fresh/renewals) shall be made in one installment as per the following schedule as far as possible:

19. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

19.1 The monitoring of the financial and physical performance of the Scheme will be done through seeking detailed information from the agencies implementing the Scheme and for the physical aspect the agencies implementing will be required to furnish Quarterly Progress Reports regarding the number of beneficiaries receiving award under the Scheme, both class[ wise and gender-wise. On the financial side, details of actual expenditure incurred during the last financial year and expenditure proposed for the present financial year will be submitted by the agencies concerned. The agencies implementing the scheme will also be insisted upon to submit the latest audited accounts.

19.2 The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment will get the scheme evaluated by entrusting a research study to reputed institutions/ agencies, on the performance of the Scheme in different parts of the country, under this Ministry's Scheme of Research and Training.

19.3 There shall be thorough evaluation of the outcomes of the scheme in regular intervals to ascertain the effectiveness of scheme implementation and for tracking the progress of the students . This may include conduct of social audits once a year, annual third-party evaluation, and half-yearly self-audited reports from each institution.

19.4 The social audits are to be conducted by the Social Audit Units of the State Governments formed by the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India duly meeting the cost from the administrative cost of the scheme.

19.5 The State Government shall also set up a robust monitoring mechanism for monitoring the academic progress of the students enrolled to the scheme.

19.6 The students who are found to be lagging behind should be provided remedial coaching so that their academic outcome shall not be less than the average academic outcomes. The State Action Plan should contain clear provisions for this.

19.7 In order to ensure proper accountability, physical verifications at various levels viz. Block/District/State levels shall be done by the States/UTs covering at least 10% of the institutions/students, chosen randomly through an algorithm. All private institutions offering courses at the level of graduation or above shall, however, be mandatorily inspected annually.

20. ADMINISTRATIVE CHARGES

20.1 The administrative cost for administration, monitoring and evaluation shall be limited

to 1% of the annual outlay.

20.2 Each State /UT shall project the requirement of funds for undertaking the monitoring of the implementation, in its Annual Action Plan. In case, funds are required for Book, these may be indicated under the Administrative charges. This would be considered by the PAC, ensuring that the total outflow on this count does not exceed 1% of the annual outlay.

20.3 The PAC shall give first priority in approving administrative charges for development of IT infrastructure, setting up of Technical Support Group cum Project Monitoring Unit at the Central/State level and social audits.

21. MECHANISM FOR REDRESSAL OF GRIEVANCES

21.1 There shall be an online grievance redressal mechanism linking all the authoritiesresponsible for implementation on the scholarship portal.

21.2 The student shall be able to lodge a grievance either through the portal or by a mobile app.

21.3 Every institution shall have a Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) who is responsible for entertaining the grievances and resolving them by following up with the appropriate authority.

21.4 The non-resolution of the grievance at the institution level in a given time frame shall automatically be escalated to the district and later to the State level for resolution.

22. OTHER CONDITIONS FOR THE AWARD

22.1 The scholarship is provided on the basis of satisfactory progress and conduct of the scholars. If it is reported by the Head of the Institution at any time that a scholar has, by reasons of his/her own act or default, failed to make satisfactory progress or has been guilty of misconduct such as resorting to or participating in strikes, irregularity in attendance without the permission of the authorities concerned etc., the authority sanctioning the scholarships may either cancel the scholarship or stop or withhold further payment of scholarship for such period as it may think fit.

22.2 If a student is found to have obtained a scholarship by false statement his/her scholarship will be cancelled forthwith and the amount of the scholarship paid will be recovered, at the discretion of the concerned State Government. The student concerned will be blacklisted and debarred for scholarship under any schemes forever.

22.3 A scholarship awarded may be cancelled if the scholar changes the subject of the course of study for which the scholarship were originally awarded or changes the institution of study, without prior approval of the State Government. The Head of the Institution shall inform such cases to the scholar and stop payment of the scholarship money. The amount already paid may also be recovered at the discretion of the State Government.

22.4 A scholar is liable to refund the scholarship amount at the discretion of the State Government, if during the course of the year, the studies for which the scholarship has been

awarded, is discontinued by him/her.

22.5 The provisions of the scheme can be changed at any time at the discretion of the Government of India.

*****

Annexure-1

[Refer para 8]

The following important parameters should be contained in the FREE SHIP CARD

i. Name of the Student

ii. Student's ID on the portal

iii. Fathers' Name-

iv. Aadhaar Card Number

v. Caste

vi. Date of Birth

vii. Annual Family income

viii. Domicile Stateix.

Address of the Student

x. Course (in which admission is sought)xi.

Duration of Course-

xii. Class (presently studying)-

xiii. Class (Last class previously studied)-

xiv. Major provisions of the scheme

xv. Student's undertaking to reimburse the amount to institution within 7 days after receipt of scholarship

1. OBJECTIVE

The objective of the scheme is to provide premium education to the meritorious students belonging to OBC, EBC and DNT categories by funding their education from Class 9 onwards till they complete Class 12.

2. SCOPE AND COVERAGE

All the OBC, EBC and DNT students studying in the Top Class Schools identified as per the modalities of the scheme with household annual income of less than Rs. 2.5 lakhs would be eligible for the scheme. The number of slots for each State would be allocated based on the OBC population data available. The sanction of scholarship would be based on merit and is done using online portal.

3. MODALITIES

The scheme would be implemented in the following manner:

a) The top performing schools which consistently secure 100% passes in the Classes 10th 12th would be selected by a selection committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary (BC) and with representation from Department of School Education and the NITI Ayog. These schools will be termed as ‘Top Class Schools (TCSs)’ for the purpose of this scheme.

b) The TCSs can be public (Central/State/Local Body) or aided schools or private schools.

c) The number of slots available under the scheme for each State and each class would be announced in the month of April each year.

d) At least 30% of these scholarships are reserved for girls.

e) The OBC/EBC/DNT students already studying in the TCSs can apply on the National Scholarship Portal for the scholarship along with the marks they have obtained in the final exam of the previous class.

f) These applications have to be verified online by the Nodal Officers of the School, and confirmed by the State Government online.

g) There shall be a State-wise merit list for each class for boys and girls separately prepared on the basis of the marks obtained in the final exam of the previous class, and allocation of the scholarships shall be automatically be done on the merit.

4. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY

This is a central sector component under Centrally Sponsored scheme, and would be implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the assistance of the State Governments and the National Scholarship Portal.

5. METHODOLOGY OF ASSISTANCE/ RELEASE OF SCHOLARSHIPS

i. The release of funds will be directly into the account of beneficiaries through DBT mode.

ii. Payment shall be made in on instalment to be released before 15th August each year.

iii. The implementation of the scheme would be in accordance with the provisions of GFR 2017.

6. INSTITUITIONS ELIGIBLE AND QUANTUM OF ASSISTANCE AND SELF

(i) The top class schools which have maintained 100% pass percentage in the 10th and 12 class exams shall be shortlisted by a committee Chaired by the Joint Secretary (BC) in the Ministry and with representation from Department of School Education and NITI Ayog.

(ii) The grants will be provided for tuition fee, hostel fee and other charges as required by the school, subject to a maximum of Rs. 75,000/- per annum per student of class 9 and 10 and Rs. 1,25,000/- per annum per student of class 11 and 12.

7. OTHER CONDITIONS

(i) The students must have a Bank Account and while applying under the scheme should provide all necessary details.

(ii) The shortlisted School should have Aadhaar Based Attendance System that can be integrated into a central portal, if required.

(iii) Students studying in schools assisted under this Scheme shall not be eligible for assistance under any other scheme of the Government for the items/purpose already covered under thisScheme.

8. MONITORING

(i) The designated portal shall allow updating of the information on all the given performance criteria at regular intervals by the students.

(ii) A real time Data Management Information System (MIS) for collection and dissemination of progress of the scheme will be put in place for better reporting on output outcome indicators. The MIS of the scheme will be linked through API to ‘Output Outcome Monitoring Framework’ (OOMF) Dashboard.

(iii) From time to time, beneficiaries may be contacted over phone or through personal visit to know the impact of the scheme and also to take decision for continuation or otherwise of grants at any time.

8. PROCEDURE FOR MODIFICATION OF THE GUIDELINES:

The detailed guidelines regarding eligibility conditions for availing assistance under the scheme, procedure and selection of candidates and other terms and conditions along with the extent of support are provided, may be modified from time to time, according to needs, with the approval of the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment and other competent authority.

*****

(D) CENTRAL SECTOR SCHEME OF TOP CLASS EDUCATION IN COLLEGE FOR OBC, EBC AND DNT STUDENTS

1. OBJECTIVE

The objective of the scheme is to recognize and promote quality education amongst Students belonging to OBC, EBC and DNT categories by providing full financial support. The Scheme will cover OBC/EBC/DNT students for pursuing studies beyond class XIIth.

2. SCOPE AND COVERAGE

(i) The Scheme will operate in all the institutions notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for every financial year 2021-22 onwards.

(ii) The scholarship, once awarded, will continue till the completion ofthe course, subject to satisfactory performance of thestudent.The students are required to apply for scholarship every year even in case of renewal also.

3. ELIGIBILITY

(i) Those OBC/EBC/DNT students having total annual family income from all sources up to Rs. 2.50 lakh and having secured admission in a full-time prescribed course in any of the notified institutions according to the general selection criteria prescribed by the concerned institution, will be eligible for scholarship under the Scheme to the extent of the number of scholarships (slots) allocated to the institution for the course.

(ii) In case the number of eligible students admitted exceeds the number of slots allotted to the institution, the scholarship will be restricted to the top students in the inter-se merit list based on the admission criteria for the course as mentioned in Annexure-II. However, if there is more than one student with equal marks for the last available slot in an institution, preference should be given to the student with the lower family income. The remaining students from OBC/EBC/DNT category admitted in the institution shall be eligible for the Post-Matric Scholarship (PMS) administered by this Ministry through State Governments/UT Administrations, provided such students are otherwise eligible under the saidscheme.

(iii) In case the institution finds that the number of eligible candidates in the 1st year are less than the number of slots allotted to it, the balance slots may be offered to eligible students studying in 2nd, 3rd and 4th year, etc. on the basis of inter-se merit of previous year’s result giving priority to those with higher number of years left to complete their respective course i.e. 2nd year students are to get priority over the 3rd year students and soon.

(iv) Thirty percent (30%) of slots allotted to the Institution shall be reserved for eligible girl

students as per their inter-se merit. In the absence of sufficient number of girl students, the slots may be transferred to eligible boy students as per their inter-semerit.

(v) However, the 30% slots as mentioned above will not include those girl students who are selected on the basis of their performance in the overall merit list of OBC/EBC/DNT students, as applicable, of theInstitution.

(vi) The benefit of the Scheme will not be provided to more than 2 siblings in a family. The students will submit an affidavit in the Institution to certify that he/she is not the third sibling of the family who is availing benefit under the scheme.

(vii) The scholarship will be terminated if the student fails to get promoted to the next semester/class.

(viii) As the fund is majorly earmarked for OBC, preference would be given to the OBC students while considering under the scheme.

4. ‘TOP CLASS’ INSTITUTIONS AND NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIP SLOTS

(i) All the IIMs / IITs/ IIITs / AIIMSs/ NITs/NIFTs/ NIDs/ Indian Institutes of Hotel Management, National Law Universities and other Central Government Institutions will be eligible to be included in the Scheme, subject to their applying for being included in the Scheme and recommendation by the Selection Committee under the scheme, or if the Selection Committee itself recommends the name of the institute for inclusion in the list of empanelled institutes of the scheme. If an institution is not in any of the above categories, it has to be included in the current list ofi). National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) A++ and A+ Accredited Institutions or ii) Top 100 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Institutions or iii).Institutions of National Importance as per lists issued by Ministry of Education (GoI) from time totime.

(ii) For Commercial Pilot Training Course and Type Rating Courses all Government institutes approved by Director General of Civil Aviation shall be eligible for empanelment under the scheme.

(iii) The overall number of fresh scholarships would be capped as per budget earmarked of that financial year. The number of slots shall be distributed among types of institutions as per recommendation of the committee.

(iv) The list of the ‘Top Class’ Institutions to be covered under the Scheme along with number of scholarship slots will be notified by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment. Any addition or deletion to the list shall be notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, as and when required, based on the recommendations of the Steering Committee set up under the scheme.

(v) Any institution not applying under the Scheme continuously for three years shall

beremoved from the list of notified institutions under theScheme.

5. FUNDING PATTERN & MODE OF PAYMENT

(i) The OBC/EBC/DNT students, who secure admission in the notified institutions, will be awarded scholarship to meet the requirements for (a) full tuition fee and non-refundable charges (there will be a ceiling of Rs. 2.00 lakh per annum per student for private sector institutions and Rs. 3.72 lakhs per annum per student for the private sector flying clubs for Commercial Pilot Training and Type Rating Courses) (b) living expenses to the beneficiary @Rs.3000/-per month per student (c) books and stationery @ Rs. 5000/- per annum per student and (iv) a latest computer/laptop of reputed brand with accessories like UPS and printer limited to Rs. 45000/- per student as one time assistance during the course.

(ii) The Scheme will be funded by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 100%basis.

(iii) The scholarship will become payable immediately after a student has secured admission and has started attending theclasses.

(iv) The payment of tuition fee and other non-refundable charges will be made directly to the institution by the Central Government through Direct Benefit Transfermode.

(v) Similarly, the payment of living expenses, books & stationery and computer/laptop with accessories will be made directly to the student by the Central Government through Direct Benefit Transfermode.

(vi) The implementation of the scheme would be in accordance with the provisions of GFR 2017. Submission of UC should be as per prescribed forms as per GFR, 2017. Further, as per provisions of rule 230(8) of GFR, 2017, all interest or other earnings against Grants-in- aid or advances released to any grantee institution should be mandatorily remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India immediately after finalization of accounts.

6. OTHER PROVISIONS

(i) With a view to ensure access of the provisions of this Scheme to all eligible students, the institution will incorporate the salient features of the scheme in their prospectus, in addition to putting the same on the website of the institution.

(ii) The students will submit their application on National Scholarship Portal (NSP). The institutes will verify the applications on NSP for submission to the Ministry. The institution will follow the limit of the slots assigned to it and will verify only as many applications as number of slots provided to it. The last date of verification of applications of the students by the institutions on NSP shall be 31st October.

(iii) In the case of new entrants i.e. to the first year of the course, the institution will select eligible OBC/EBC/DNT students on the basis of merit as per the entrance examination merit list. The entrance exam of each course will be considered as per the list given at Annexure-I. The students are required to apply under the Scheme on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) and upload their income certificate and caste certificate on the Portal along with details of their bank account, Admission Rank and Fee details to claim the scholarship. The institution shall verify all the details before forwarding the applications to theMinistry.

(iv) In the case of application for renewal of scholarships by students joining second or subsequent years of the course, verification of an application by the institution would mean that the institution has promoted the student to the next class and the student has taken admissiontherein.

(v) Normally, the student should purchase the computer/laptop including accessories in the first year he/she is awarded the scholarship. The student will submit the bill for purchase of the same while applying for the scholarship in the subsequent year to the institution. If the amount of purchase is less than the amount released to him/her under this head, the institution will the accordingly adjust the difference against the admissible grant to the student being proposedon the NSP.

(vi) The institution will furnish a Utilization Certificate in the prescribed format for the tuition fee and non-refundable charges released to it.

(vii) The performance of the students covered under the Scheme shall be monitored regularly by the Head of the respective institution and the same shall be reported to the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment at the end of each academicyear.

(viii) Any institution violating the provisions of the Scheme and/or instructions issued by the Government of India will be de-notified.

(ix) In the event of de-notification/deletion of any institution, the scholarship will continue to be available to the students already admitted under the Scheme, if otherwise eligible, till the completion of the course. However, no fresh seats will be allotted and funds released to such de-notified institutions.

(x) The general provisions of the General Financial Rules (GFR), 2017, will apply mutatis mutandis, and the institutions shall be bound by the general principles laidtherein.

7. REVIEW AND MONITORING

(i) The progress of implementation of the Scheme will be reviewed by a Steering Committee consisting of the following–

a) Secretary (SJ&E) -Chairperson

b) Joint Secretary & Financial Adviser (SJ&E) -Member

c) Joint Secretary, BC Division, M/o SJ&E - Member

d) Joint Secretary (TA), M/o Tribal Affairs - Member

e) Joint Secretary, Deptt .of Higher Education -Member

f) Joint Secretary, Deptt. of Medical Education, M/o H&FW –Member

g) Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation –Member

h) Joint Secretary, Deptt. For EPWD, M/o SJE –Member

i) A representative of the UGC –Member

h) A representative of the NITI Aayog -Member

i) Director/Dy. Secretary, BC Division, M/o SJ&E –Convener

The Committee may co-opt an expert as a special invitee, as and when it deemsnecessary.

(ii) The Committee may recommend to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment about addition or deletion of any institution based on their performance. For the purpose, the Committee may take into account the recommendations of the concerned bodies conducting the entrance examinations for admissions into such courses or having the administrative control over such institutions.

(iii) The Committee would equitably distribute the slots under the Scheme amongst the notified institutions.

(iv) The Committee may periodically review the performance of the selected institutions on the basis of the academic results and also recommend appropriate modifications in the Scheme, as and when considerednecessary.

8. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

(i) As the magnitude of data to be managed and processed would be very large, there would be a need to engage qualified skilled personnel – on contract or out- sourcing basis - right from the beginning to design, develop and operate the IT based systems as well as enter, process, analyses, monitor, retrieve and transfer data.

(ii) A provision not exceeding 1% if the total budget will be made to meet the administrative and allied costs of the Ministry for office equipment including computers and accessories, furniture, development of appropriate software, advertisements, engagement of personnel,etc.

(iii) The above provision will also be used for publicity, awareness generation, evaluation and monitoring of the Scheme, through outside institutions/agencies engaged by the Ministry of SJ&E, Government ofIndia.

9. The modifications as considered appropriate in the provisions of the Scheme, from time to time, would be approved by the Administrative Minister, on the recommendations of the

Committee as given in para7 above.

Annexure-1

Criteria of

Merit List

For the

Institutions

as per the

entrance

exam

S.No.

Type of Institutions

Criteria for Merit list

Engineering

IITs

Rank in JEE Advanced

NITs

Rank in JEE Mains

IIITs

Rank in JEE Mains

Other Central Govt. Institutions

Rank in JEE Mains

4(i)

Indian Maritime University,

Rank in IMU CET

4(ii)

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

(IIST), Thiruvananthapuram

Rank in JEE Advanced

State Govt. Institute-IIITM-K

Entrance test of IIITM-K

Private Institutions- BITs

Rank in BITSAT

Management

IIMs

Rank in CAT

Other Govt. Institutes

8(i)

IRMA

Rank in CAT/XAT

8(ii)

Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal

Rank in CAT/XAT

8(iii)

FMS

Rank in CAT

8(iv)

NITIE

Rank in CAT

8(v)

IIFT

Rank in IIFT ent exam

Non Govt Institute

9(i)

Xavier Institute of Management

Rank in CAT

9(ii)

Symbiosis Institute of Business Management

Rank in SNAP

9(iii)

BharatiVidyapeeth

B-MAT

9(iv)

XLRI School of Business and Human Resources,

Jamshedpur

Rank in XAT

NLU

Rank in CLAT

Private Institutes

11(i)

ILS Pune

Rank in MHCET

11(ii)

Symbiosis Law College

Rank in SLAT

Medical

Central Govt. Institutions

Rank in NEET

Other Govt. Institutions

Rank in NEET

Non Govt. Institutions

Rank in NEET

Agricultural and Allied Sciences- Central Govt.

Institutes

15 (i)

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

ICMR Ent test

15(ii)

Indian Institute of Plantation Management

IIPM Ent Test

15(iii)

National Institute of Rural Development and

Panchayati Raj

NIRDPR Ent Test

15(iv)

National Institute of FoodTechnology Entrepreneurship and Management(NIFTEM)

JEE Mains rank

15(v)

Indian Institute of Research,Trivandrum

Science

Education

and

IISER Ent test

15(vi)

Indian Institute of

Science

Education

and

IISER Ent test

Research, Tirupati

15(vii)

Indian Institute of Science Education and

Research, Berhampur

IISER Ent test

Fashion- NIFT

NIFT Ent test

Hospitality

17(i)

IHMs

NCHMCT JEE Test

17(ii)

Private Institutes (BhartiyaVidyaBhawan)

BV Ent Test

Flying Clubs

18(i)

CPL institutes

Institute Ent Test

18(ii)

ATOs

Institute Ent Test

18(iii)

Private ATOs

Institute Ent Test

National Institutes

19(i)

Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute for the PhysicallyHandicapped

Institute Ent Test

19(ii)

Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing

Handicapped

Institute Ent Test

19(iii)

National Institute for the Visually Handicapped

Institute Ent Test

19(iv)

National Institute for empowerment of Persons

with Multiple Disabilities

Institute Ent Test

Miscellaneous

20(i)

Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Institute Ent Test

20(ii)

Film and Television Institute of India

Joint Ent Test

20(iii)

Indian Institute of Mass Communication

Institute Ent Test

******

(E) Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

1. BACKGROUND

The scheme aims at providing hostel facilities to students belonging to socially and educationally backward classes, especially from rural areas to enable them to pursue secondary and higher education in the Govt. schools, universities, institutions and institutes located at a reasonable distance in order to provide them greater access to high quality education. The scheme as such mainly targets the students hailing from remote areas and from poor families as well who generally discontinue their studies either because no secondary school and college is available near their location or due to non-availability of adequate hostel facilities at a reasonable cost at places where such educational institutions are located.

2. OBJECTIVE

The Scheme aims at providing hostel facilities to students belonging to socially and educationally backward classes, especially from rural areas, to enable them to pursue secondary and higher education. Priority will be given for the proposals for construction of hostels for under-graduate students vis-a-vis below under-graduate level.

3. COST NORMS:

i. The cost per hostel seat in different areas are as follows:-

a. North Eastern Region/Himalayan Regions - - Rs.3.50 lakh per seat

b. Rest of country - Rs.3.00 lakh per seat

Or as per the schedule of the rates for the concerned State Government, whichever is lower.

ii. The cost of construction of hostels for Boys has to be shared between the Centre and the State in 60:40 ratio.

iii. There will be 90% central assistance to State Governments in case of Girls Hostels and 10% of cost will be borne by the State Governments.

iv. In case of Union Territories, the Central Assistance shall be 100% and for North Eastern States and 02 Himalayan States (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), it shall be 90%.

v. For the Institution of repute ranked in the latest NIRF rankings of Ministry of

Education, Govt. of India, the Central Assistance shall be 100% irrespective of regional States.

vi. The construction work of the Hostel has to be completed within eighteen months from award of work order or two years from the release of 1st installment of Central assistance, whichever is earlier. In no case the time will be extended beyond 2 years. Any cost escalation due to delay in project will be borne by the State/Institute. Proposals for 2nd installment must be received in this Ministry within one year from the date of release of 1st installment after completing construction work up to roof top level.

vii. The implementing agencies of the scheme at all levels should be on-boarded on PFMS and use EAT/REAT module for fund tracking.

viii. Proposals for integrated hostel in which required number of seats for OBCs are reserved shall ordinarily be considered under the scheme.

ix. The necessity to acquire land will not be there. Hostel construction work can also be done in the ongoing State Government project institutions, medical Colleges, Engineering Colleges, Polytechnics, etc.

x. The amount of grant will be released in 3 installments in 50:45:5 ratio, of which 5% grant will be released after completion of the work and occupation of the rooms by the OBC Boys and Girls.

xi. There will be a one-time non-recurring grant of Rs.2500/- per seat for providing furniture/equipment to the hostels constructed under the Scheme.

xii. All the State Governments can also send proposals for purchase of furniture/equipment under this Scheme, for their own Hostels (built through the State Government’s funds) for which an amount of Rs.2,500/- per seat for 100 seats only will be granted only once for a newly constructed Hostel, subject to availability of funds.

xiii. The implementing agencies shall submit “occupation of rooms by OBC Boys/Girls” status, apart from UC and completion report, in respect of each completed Hostel every year and then only the next grant in respect of new proposals will be released.

xiv. The remuneration and overhead expenses for evaluation and monitoring shall not exceed 1 % of the total allocation of the scheme.

xv. The State Government shall ensure that their due share is arranged before sending

proposal to Government of India.

xvi. The BC Division will suomoto adopt in future an upward revision of the Babu Jagjeewan Ram Chhatravas Yojana scheme of SC Division of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, subject to recommendation by an Evaluation study and approval by the competent authority.

xvii. Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls in an Adarsh Village selected under the “Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)”, can be taken up provided land is available and the selected village is located in the catchment area of the existing educational institutions.

xviii. The implementing agencies will maintain beneficiary-wise, year-wise Aadhar details that can be subject to inspection.

xix. The fund remains unutilized must be refunded to the Consolidated Fund of India as per GFR provisions.

4. AGENCIES ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE UNDER THE SCHEME

Agencies eligible for financial assistance under the revised Scheme will be as follows:-

(i) State Governments and UT Administrations;

(ii) The Institution of repute ranked in the latest NIRF rankings of Ministry of Education subject to the following conditions:-

a. The institution shall provide free of cost land within the campus.

b. The institution shall undertake to complete construction within 24 months.

c. The institution shall maintain the hostel after construction as per standards prescribed.

d. The institution shall agree to provide as many hostel seats to the new OBC students as per the sanction order of the hostel. However, this additional accommodation shall be regulated in other hostels as well to avoid the hostel to be designated as 'OBC hostel' exclusively i.e. if a hostel with 100 capacity has been sanctioned under this scheme, the institution shall provide 100 additional seats to the OBC students, but it can be spread over in all other hostels.

5. LOCATION AND CAPACITY OF HOSTELS TO BE CONSTRUCTED UNDER THE SCHEME

5.1 While sanctioning hostels, priority will be given to:-

(i) Regions/districts not covered so far, and

(ii) Districts/towns having a large number of educational institutions.

5.2. Priority shall be given to such hostels to be constructed within the University/Institution’s campus. As far as possible, hostels will be constructed in close vicinity of educational institutions.

5.3 It shall be the responsibility of Management of the University/ institutions to maintain the hostels as per standard prescribed norms.

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR STUDENTS TO BE ADMITTED TO HOSTELS UNDER THE SCHEME

Students fulfilling the following eligibility criteria may be allotted seats in Hostels constructed under the Scheme:-

(i) Students whose castes are included in the Central/State/UT list of Other Backward Classes and who do not belong to the "creamy layer".

(ii) If seats reserved for OBC remains vacant, it would be filled up in following preference:-

(a) De-notified Tribes (DNT ) students.

(b) Scheduled Tribes (ST) Students.

(d) Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Students.

(iii) Hostels would be essentially for the students pursuing post matric level studies. However, if there are vacant seats, pre-matric students especially of the secondary level, would also be eligible to be accommodated.

(iv) Equal preference will be given to OBC students hailing from low income families.

(v) At least 5% of the total seats should be reserved for students with disabilities.

7. FUNDING PATTERN

7.1 The revised norms applicable from 2021-22 is as under:-

Item

Revised norms applicable from 2021-22

Recipient Agency

% of Central Share

Funding Pattern for construction

i) State Govt. (other than in the North East and Himalayan States) for Boys students

60%

ii) State Govt. for Girls students

90%

iii) State Governments. in the North East Region

and Himalayan States

90%

iv) UT Administration

100%

v) Institution of repute ranked in the latest NIRF rankings of Ministry of Education

100%

Equipment

Grant

One time non-recurring grant of Rs.2500/- per Hostel seat forprovision of essential hostel furniture and equipment.

7.2 Release of funds under the Scheme is subject to compliance of instructions issued by the Department of Expenditure vide OM No. 1(13)PFMS/ FCD/2020 dated 23.03.2021 towards monitoring utilization of the funds released.

7.3 The implementation of the scheme would be in accordance with the provisions of GFR 2017. Submission of UC should be as per prescribed forms as per GFR, 2017. Further, as per provisions of rule 230(8) of GFR, 2017, all interest or other earnings against Grants-in- aid or advances released to any grantee institution should be mandatorily remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India immediately after finalization of accounts.

7.4 Release of fund is subject to compliance of Financial Management Guideline, as applicable, as per following table:

(e.g. for proposal for 2021-22)

Unspent Balance as on 01.04.2020

Central share (including EBR, if any) released during 2020-21

Due State Share up to 31.03.2021

State share released vis a vis column iii during 2020-21

Gap in release of State Share upto 31.03.2021 (iii-iv)

Total fund available (i+ii+v)

Actual* expenditure During 2020-21

Unspent balance as on 01.04.2021

8. PLANNING HOSTELS BUILDINGS UNDER THE SCHEME

8.1 Indicative physical norms for a 100 seater hostel are as under:-

S.No.

Description

Area per Unit

(sq. mtrs)

No. of

Units

Total Area

(in sq. mtrs)

4 seater

290

6 seater dormitory

390

Kitchen cum Pantry

Store

Dining Hall

Toilets

Bath

Common Room

Computer cum Reading

Room

Medical Room

Office

Chowkidar Quarter

Total

252

900

Add circulation area & wall thickness @ 35% of above

315

Total built up area

1215 Sqm

Built up area per seat

12.15 Sqm

In case of hostel of a lesser capacity, planning should be done in such a manner that built-up area per seat remains as close to the above figure (say, upto 13 Sq.m), as possible.

8.2 Essential Features to be incorporated while planning and executing Hostel building, under the Scheme:It is important that hostels which are constructed under the scheme satisfy the following criteria:

(i) Good Quality of Construction – Safety and speediness

(ii) Economical construction

(iii) Energy – efficiency: The building should have low energy requirements and should make maximum possible use of natural lighting, solar energy, natural ventilation, etc.

(iv) Use of local building practices and materials: Every region of the country has, over the centuries, developed its own unique construction practices using locally available materials. These should be optimally used in the interest of economy and local suitability. It would be most undesirable to follow a standard RCC based construction plan everywhere.

(v) Water harvest and water-use efficiency: The building should have system of harvesting rain-water and also re-cycling waste-water optimally.

(vi) Earthquake design and firefighting arrangements: The building should have an earthquake resistant structural design in earthquake-prone areas, and sound fire-fighting arrangements.

(vii) Open Space: The Hostel should have adequate open space around it for outdoor games and sports, as well as for a garden/kitchen garden/trees of various kinds.

(viii) Barrier-free Access: The Hostel building to be constructed must be accessible to persons with disabilities. It must, inter-alia, provide ramps with railings, disable friendly toilet, Braille signage etc. All the buildings should be as per the compliance of Sugamya Bharat

Abhiyan of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

9. PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

9.1 Agencies (i) eligible for assistance under the Scheme, and (ii) having clear title and possession over the land where the hostel is to be constructed, will submit proposals in the prescribed formats as under:-

No.

Type of Agency

Application Format given in

State Governments,

UT Administration, Central Institution

Annexure – I and Annexure – I-A (Part-I & II)

9.2

(i) State Governments/UT Administration which submits proposals for construction of three or more hostels in a year will have to propose Girls' Hostels to the extent of at least one third of them.

(ii) While submitting proposals for release of Central assistance, the implementing agencies shall give an undertaking that they would construct the Hostels within a period of eighteen months from the date of award of work order or two year from release of 1st instalment of Central Assistance, whichever is earlier.

(iii) There should be a proper need assessment in consultation with the intended beneficiaries by the Implementing agencies before sending the proposal.

10. RESPONSIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES BY WAY OF MAINTENANCE & MANAGEMENT OF HOSTELS

State Governments/UT Administrations/Institutions, which receive Central assistance under the Scheme shall have to fulfill the following obligation, and will give an undertaking to do so, while submitting their proposals:-

(i) The entire expenditure on procurement of land (if any), staffing, other maintenance and day- to-day expenditure shall be borne by the implementing agency(s) concerned.

(ii) The Hostel should have for each inmate, a bed, a study table, a chair, and a cupboard to store personal belongings.

(iii) It must be ensured that the inmates of the hostel are provided with whole-some &nutritious food.

(iv) Hostels should have adequate water supply, inclusive of potable water.

(v) For conservation of water, water efficient taps and WCs (two option flushing) should be used.

(vi) The common room should be provided with newspapers, magazines, indoor games and a TV set.

(vii) The implementing agency should provide an adequate number of computers out of their own resources or from MP LADS/MLA LADS fund for the computer-cum-reading room which should also have a small library of informative books.

(viii) There should be arrangements for periodical health check-ups of students, and for a part- time doctor on call, whenever necessary.

(ix) A Warden, at least on a part-time basis, should be employed for the smooth running of the hostel. In case of Girls Hostel, a female warden and other supporting staffs must be ensured.

(x) For safety of the inmates, a boundary wall should be constructed with a robust system of watch and ward essentially put in place

11. MANNER OF RELEASE OF CENTRAL ASSISTANCE

Central assistance for building construction and equipment will be released to recipient agencies in the following manner:-

Purpose of

assistance

Manner of release

Construction of Hostel Building

In three installments as follows:-

Ist installments.

50% of approved Central

assistance

Initial sanction

2nd installments.

45% of

approved Central assistance

On receipt of confirmation from implementing agency regarding (i) Completion of work up to roof top level, and (ii) Expenditure to the extent of first installment of Central assistance and correspondingshare of implementing agency.

3rdinstallments.

Remaining 5%

On receipt of confirmation from implementing agency regarding completion of building work along with occupancy status of the hostel.

Furniture & Equipment

On receipt of report from the implementing agency regarding completion of building work and full utilization of

Central/State/Central Institution’s share of the construction cost.

12. MONITORING AND AWARENESS

12.1 The Agencies implementing the Scheme will furnish half-yearly progress reports to the Ministry in the prescribed proforma [Annexure – VII (Part I & Part II) and Annexure – VIII (Part I & Part II)].

12.2 A Monitoring Committee consisting of the following officers will monitor and review the construction of hostels regularly based on progress reports, submitted by the Implementing Agencies:-

a. Additional Secretary (SJ&E) - Chairperson

b. Joint Secy. & Financial Adviser (SJ&E) - Member

c. Joint Secretary(BC), M/o SJ&E - Member

d. Director/Dy. Secretary, BC Division - Secretary

12.3 Awareness among the State Governments and eligible Institutes under the scheme may be created through regular interventions.

13. INVOLVEMENT OF PANCHAYATI RAJ & MUNICIPAL BODIES

13.1 Students as beneficiaries of hostels to be constructed under the Scheme will be mostly from the rural areas. On the other hand, most of the hostels will be located in urban and semi-urban areas.

In view of the above, State Governments will be expected to suitably associate concerned Panchayati Raj and Municipal bodies (especially the concerned Block & District Panchayats and the Municipal Body of the town where the Hostel is located) in :-

 Planning,

 Execution, and

 Day-to-day management, of the Hostels sanctioned under the Scheme.

13.2 State Govt. should constitute a District Monitoring Committee to ensure timely completion of hostel construction and thereafter to ensure that maintenance of hostel does not suffer due to non-availability of adequate fund. The District Welfare Officer should personally check the working of hostels through periodic visits and ensure corrective measures are taken from time to time, if required.

13.3 State Govt. should regularly conduct social audit of the hostels involving the community.

***

Annexure-I

[See para 9.1, page 46]

State Government/CentralUniversity/Institute

The Joint Secretary (Backward Classes)

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,

Government of India,

Shastri Bhavan,

New Delhi-110001.

Subject: Proposal for Central assistance under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls.

Sir,

With reference to letter No. dated of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on the above subject, I am to send herewith proposals seeking Centralassistance for construction of the Hostels for OBC students, as per details enclosed in the Abstract(Annexure–I-A).

2. Following details of OBC hostels sanctioned under the Scheme upto the previous financial year are also enclosed:-

(i) Physical Progress of Hostels sanctioned upto the last financial year(Annexure-III).

(ii) Financial Progress of the Hostels sanctioned upto last financial year(Annexure-IV).

(iii) Details of hostels completed upto last quarter preceding submission of proposal (Annexure-V).

(iv) Utilization Certificate as per GFR-12(A)/GFR-12(C)(Annexure-VI-A/Annexure-VI-B of theguidelines).

3. I am also to convey that the State Government /Central Institute/ State University/ Institutions will, as per the guidelines, take the following steps for implementation of the Scheme:-

(i) State Government/Central Institute/State University will bear their share of the total cost of construction ofproposed hostels as approved by the Government of India and all expenditure, if any, overand above the cost approved by the Central Government, as mentioned in para 7 of theguidelines.

(ii) Incorporate essential features as mentioned in para 8.2 of the guidelines while planning andexecutinghostel buildings.

(iii) Construction of hostels will be completed within a period of eighteen months from the dateof award of work order or two year from release of 1stinstalment of Central assistance, whichever is earlier, as mentioned in para 9.2(ii)of the guidelines.

(iv) Maintain and manage the hostels as mentioned in para10 of the guidelines.

(v) Ensure involvement of Panchayati Raj and Municipal Bodies in planning, execution and day-to-day management of the Hostels as mentioned in para13 of theguidelines.

4. The following documents/statements are also enclosed:-

(i) Documentary evidence of land availability, plot number and plot area.

(ii) Site Plan and Layout Plan.

(iii) Preliminary cost estimate of each of the proposed Hostel building, as per State PWD/CPWD schedule of rates applicable in the State/UT signed by an officer not below the rank of an Executive Engineer.

5. It is requested that Central assistance amounting to Rs. Cr may please be released, as per details in the Abstract,to undertake construction of the Hostels mentioned therein.

Yours faithfully,

Principal Secretary/Vice Chancellor/Director of the Institution

AnnexureI-A

[See para9.1, page 46]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

Proposing Agency............................(i.e.Name of State Govt./Central Institution/State University/Institution)

…………………………..Deptt

Abstract of hostel proposals

Part-I:Hostel-wise Details

No.

Location of Hostel

No. of seats in the proposed Hostel

Meant for Boys/Girls

Estimated Cost of Construction

Construction cost per seat(Col.7÷Col.5)

Details of Land where the construction is proposed

Details of other hostels, if any, for OBC students in the vicinity of the proposed hostel

Details of educational institutions in the vicinity of the proposed hostel

Town

Distt.

Whether the town is a Distt/ Tehsil/ Block hqs.

Total

Central Share

State Share

Name of owner Deptt/Institution

Plot No.

Area(in acres)

Location

Capacity

Distance from the proposed Hostel

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

Total

Part-II:Abstract of Central Assistance sought (in lakh Rs.)(as per Col.10)

(i) ForConstructionofHostels - Rs……………………………….

(ii) ForFurnitureand Equipment - Rs……………………………….

Total - Rs.

Signature of Pr.Secretary/ Secretary of the State Government /Director of Institution/

Other competent authority

Name…………………………………………………..

Designation………………………………………….

OfficialSeal………………………………………….

Annexure III

[See para 2.(i) of Annexure-I,page 50]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

PHYSICAL PROGRESS OF HOSTELS SANCTIONED UNDER THE SCHEME UPTO THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR (AS AT THE END OF THE QUARTER PRECEDING SUBMISSION OF THE PROPOSAL)

Name of the State/Central University/ Institution

Year of

Sanction

No. and date of Ministry’s sanction order

Location of the

Hostel

Meant for

No. of Seats Sanctioned

Status of the Hostel

Reason for delay, if

any

Likely date of completion

in case of

work not being

completed

Town

Dist.

Completed

Under Construction

Yet to start Construction

Boys

Girls

Date of Completion

Statusof Occupation

Reason, if not yet occupied

TOTAL

Signatureofcompetentauthority

Name Designation

OfficialSeal

Designation

OfficialSeal

Annexure-IV

[See para 2(ii) of Annexure-I, page 50]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

FINANCIAL PROGRESS OF HOSTELS SANCTIONED UNDER THE SCHEME UPTO THE LAST FIN. YEAR

Name of the State/Central University/Institution

(Rs.inLakhs)

No.

Year of Sanction

No. and date of Ministry's sanction order

Amount Sanctioned

Actual Amount utilized

Unspent balance of Central Assistance up to 31st March i.e.

Year ending

Total

Central Share

State Share

Total

Central Share

State Share

TOTAL

Signature of competent authority

Name

Designation

OfficialSeal

ANNEXURE-V

[See para 2(iii) of Annexure-I, page 50]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

REPORT ON THE STATUS OF HOSTELS COMPLETED UP TO LAST QUARTER PRECEDING SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

Name of the State/Central University/Institution

Sr.

No.

Year of Sanction

No. and date of Ministry's sanction order

Location of Hostel

Date of

Meant for

No. of seats Occupied by OBC

Students during the last academic session

No. of seats occupied by Non-OBC students during the last academic session

No. of seats

occupied by Physically challenged students during the last academic session

Town

District

Completion

OccupationofHostel

Boys

Girls

TOTAL

Signature of competent authority

Name

Designation

Official Seal

ANNEUXRE-VI-A

(See para 7.3, page 44)

GFR12 – A

[(SeeRule 238(1)]

FORM OF UTILIZATION CERTIFICATE

FOR AUTONOMOUS BODIES OF THE GRANTEE ORGANIZATION

Utilization certificate for the year .................................................................... in respect of recurring/non-recurring

GRANTS-IN-AID/SALARIES/CREATIONOFCAPITALASSETS

1. Name of the Scheme....................................................................................

2. Whether recurring or non-recurring grants.......................................................

3. Grants position at the beginning of the Financial year

(i) Cashin Hand/Bank

(ii) Unadjusted advances

(iii) Total

4. Details of grants received, expenditure incurred and closing balances:(Actuals)

Unspent Balances of Grants received years [figure as at Sl. No.3(iii)]

Interest Earned there on

Interest deposited back to the Government

Grant received during the year

Total Available funds(1+2-3+4)

Expenditure incurred

Closing Balances(5-6)

Sanction No.(i)

Date(ii)

Amount(iii)

Component wise utilization of grants:

Grant-in-aid-General

Grant-in-aid-Salary

Grant-in-aid-creationofcapitalassets

Total

Details of grants position at the end of the year

(i) Cashin Hand/Bank

(ii) Unadjusted Advances

(iii) Total

Certified that I have satisfied myself that the conditions on which grants were sanctioned have been duly fulfilled/are being fulfilled and that I have exercised following checks to see that the money has been actually utilized for the purpose for which it was sanctioned:

(i) The main accounts and other subsidiary accounts and registers (including assets registers) are maintained as prescribed in the relevant Act/Rules/Standing instructions (mention the Act/Rules) and have been duly audited by designated auditors. The figures depicted above tally with the audited figures mentioned in financial statements/accounts.

(ii) There exist internal controls for safeguarding public funds/assets, watching outcomes and achievements of physical targets against the financial inputs, ensuring quality in asset creation etc. & the periodic evaluation of internal controls is exercised to ensure their effectiveness.

(iii) To the best of our knowledge and belief, no transactions have been entered that are in violation of relevant Act/Rules/standing instructions and scheme guidelines.

(iv) The responsibilities among the key functionaries for execution of the scheme have been assigned in clear terms and are not general in nature.

(v) The benefits were extended to the intended beneficiaries and only such areas/districts were covered where the scheme was intended to operate.

(vi) The expenditure on various components of the scheme was in the proportions authorized as per the scheme guidelines and terms and conditions of the grants-in-aid.

(vii) It has been ensured that the physical and financial performance under…………….. (name of the scheme has been according to the requirements, as prescribed in the guidelines issued by Govt. of India and the performance/targets achieved statement for the year to which the utilization of the fund resulted in outcomes given at Annexure – I duly enclosed.

(viii)The utilization of the fund resulted in outcomes given at Annexure – II duly enclosed (to be formulated by the Ministry/Department concerned as per their requirements/specifications.)

(ix) Details of various schemes executed by the agency through grants-in-aid received from the same Ministry or from other Ministries is enclosed at Annexure –II (to be formulated by the Ministry/Department concerned as per their requirements/specifications).

Date:

Place:

Signature Signature

Name

(Head of Organization)

Name

Chief Finance Officer

(Head of the Finance)

ANNEUXRE-VI-B

(see para 7.3, page 44.)

FORM GFR 12-C

(SeeRule 239)

FORM OF UTILISATION CERTIFICATE (FOR STATE GOVERNMENTS)

(Where expenditure incurred by Govt. bodies only)

Sl.No.

Letter No. and date

Amount

Certified that out of Rs................................. of grants sanctioned during the year

........................................in favour of ....................................................under the

Ministry/Department Letter No. given in the marginand Rs....................on account of unspentbalance of the previous year, a sum of Rs................................has been utilized for the proposeof............................forwhichitwassanctionedandthatthebalanceofRs................................

Remaining unutilized at the end of the year has been surrendered to Government (vide No..............................dated. ................... )/will be adjusted towards the grants payable during the next year...................................

Total:

2. Certified that I have satisfied myself that the conditions on which the grant-in-aid was sanctioned have been duly fulfilled/are being fulfilled andthat Ihave exercisedthefollowingchecksto see thatthe moneyactually utilized for the purpose for whichitwas sanctioned.

KINDS OF CHECKS EXERCISED

.......................

PS: The UC shall disclose separately the actual expenditure incurred and loans and advances given to suppliers of stores and assets, to construction agenciesand like in accordance with scheme guidelines and in furtherance to the scheme objectives, which do not constitute expenditure at the stage.These shall betreatedas utilized grantsbut allowed tobecarried forward.

Annexure-VII

[Ref.Para12.1, page 48]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

Half yearly Progress Report for the half year ending on 30thSept./31stMarch20……….....

FinancialYear……………..

Name of the State/UT/Central University/Institution:……………………………………………………………………….

PartI

A. Abstract of Hostels Sanctioned, Completed and Under Construction under the Scheme since its inception(1998-99)–Physical progress

Sl.No

Year

No. of Hostels sanctioned

OutoftheNo.inCol.3,

No.completed

Underconstruction

Yettostart

Since 1989-

90 till the previous financial year

During the financial year

Total sanctioned

Upto end of previous financial year

Upto end of previous half year

During the half

year underreview

Upto end of half year under review(7)+ (8)

Upto end of previous half year

Construction startedduring halfyear underreview

At the endof half yearunderreview(10)+(11)‐(8)

No.

Reasons forwork notstarting

Total

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

Annexure-VII

[Ref.Para12.1, page 48]

Half‐yearly Progress Report for the half year ending on 30thSept./31stMarch20……….....

Financial Year……………..

Name of the State/UT/Central University/Central Institution:………………………………………………………………...

Part-II

A. Hostel‐wise Physical Progress of Hostels under construction or yet to start construction

Year of sanction by Ministry of SJ&E

No. & Date of Sanction letter of Ministry of SJ&E

Description of the Hostel Sanctioned

Stage of Construction

LocationTown/Distt./

Meantfor Boys/Girls

Capacity

Amount of Central Assistance Sanctioned

At end of previous half year

At end of half year under review

Progress during half year under review

Remarks

xure-VIII

[Ref. Para12.1, page 48]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

Half yearly Progress Report for the half year ending on 30th Sept./31st March 20……….....

Financial Year……………..

Name of the State/UT/institution:……………………………………………………………………………………

Part– I

B. Abstract of Hostels Sanctioned, released and amount unutilized under the Scheme since its inception(1998-99)–Financial progress

Sl.No.

Year

TOTAL

Annexure-VIII

[Ref. Para12.1, page 48]

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls

Half yearly Progress Report for the half year ending on 30th September/31st March 2010 Financial Year………………….

Name of the State/UT/Central University/Central Institution:………………………………………………………………...

scholarshipnbu.com

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

PM YOUNG ACHIEVERS SCHOLARSHIP AWARD SCHEME FOR VIBRANT INDIA FOR OBCs AND OTHERS (PM –YASASVI) (2021-2022 to 2025-26)

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