This is the Government of India’s Post Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste students. Gujarat lists it as BCK-6.1, and students apply online through the Digital Gujarat portal. Digital Gujarat is the portal where you apply, not a separate scholarship.
It helps SC students in Gujarat pay for their course and gives a yearly allowance. The official rules say you must be domiciled in Gujarat, have parents’ or guardians’ income from all sources not above Rs. 2.50 lakh during the last financial year, and study a recognised course after Class 10. Gujarat also runs separate state scholarships for SC students, such as BCK-5 for SC girls and BCK-5A for SC boys. This page covers BCK-6.1 only.
What you get
The scheme covers compulsory non-refundable fees, including tuition, for the full course. On top of that, it pays a yearly academic allowance. The allowance depends on your course group and whether you are a hosteller or a day scholar. Approved tuition and other fees are paid in addition, and disabled students get a disability allowance. The table below uses the group rates from the scheme guidelines. The Gujarat page shows the same figures under letters A to D.
| Group | Courses in the group | Hosteller (a year) | Day scholar (a year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (A) | Degree and postgraduate professional courses, such as medicine, engineering, agriculture, management, law, and M.Phil, PhD or post-doctoral programmes | Rs. 13,500 | Rs. 7,000 |
| 2 (B) | Other professional courses, such as pharmacy, nursing and paramedical courses, leading to a degree, diploma or certificate | Rs. 9,500 | Rs. 6,500 |
| 3 (C) | Graduate and postgraduate courses outside groups 1 and 2, such as BA, BSc, BCom, MA, MSc | Rs. 6,000 | Rs. 3,000 |
| 4 (D) | Post Class 10 non-degree courses, such as Class 11 and 12, ITI and 3-year polytechnic diplomas | Rs. 4,000 | Rs. 2,500 |
Divyang students get 10 percent extra allowance. CA, ICWA, CS and ICFA students are treated as day scholars for the allowance. Students on correspondence or online courses do not get the academic allowance.
The state issues a Freeship Card, which lets a student take admission without paying tuition and hostel fees in advance. The money goes straight into the student’s bank account, by direct benefit transfer only.
The allowance rates apply from 2021-22. The allowance is linked to the Consumer Price Index and can rise each April. The official sources checked do not show a revised rate for 2026-27, so confirm the current figures on the portal.
Who can apply
- You must belong to a Scheduled Caste notified for your state.
- Only Indian nationals can apply. The state where you are domiciled selects the awardees.
- You must have passed matriculation, higher secondary or a higher exam of a recognised board or university.
- Your parents’ or guardians’ income from all sources must not exceed Rs. 2.50 lakh in the last financial year.
- Schools and colleges for Classes 11 and 12 are covered, along with universities, diploma institutes, ITIs and institutions approved by bodies such as NMC or AICTE. The institution must have an AISHE or UDISE code.
- The scheme sets no age limit. Each institution decides its own age ceiling for admission.
Who cannot get the full benefit:
- A student who has passed one stage and studies the same stage in a different subject is not eligible.
- You cannot hold another scholarship for the same period. You must pick the more beneficial one, and no payment is made from the date you accept the other.
- Fees for management quota, NRI quota or spot admission seats are not reimbursed.
- Changing your subject or institution without state approval can lead to cancellation and recovery of money paid.
- A scholarship obtained by false statements is cancelled, and the student is blacklisted from any scheme.
How to apply
The official Gujarat page confirms that applications are online. The steps below come from the scheme guidelines. The portal’s own screens were not in the official pages checked, so compare them with the portal before you begin.
- Go to the Digital Gujarat portal at digitalgujarat.gov.in. Register for a Freeship Card well before your expected date of admission.
- In the Freeship Card form, give your Aadhaar number and the course you plan to join. You also give an undertaking to pay the institution’s charges within 7 working days of receiving the scholarship money.
- The state aims to verify eligible applications within 30 days and then issue the Freeship Card. For admission, the card is valid for one year from the date of issue.
- On the day you are admitted, apply for the scholarship, giving the Freeship Card details, the course and the institution.
- Your institution checks on the portal that you are a bona fide student on the same course.
Documents you need
- A passport-size photograph.
- Copies of certificates for every examination passed, such as diploma and degree certificates.
- A caste certificate signed by an authorised officer.
- A valid income certificate issued by the authority the state prescribes. It is needed only once, at admission, for courses that run for more than one year.
- Your Aadhaar. The Ministry has notified Aadhaar as an identity document for all scholarship schemes.
- A bank account linked to your Aadhaar. Students are encouraged to have one.
Until the paperless system is in place, the documents may be scanned and uploaded.
How students are selected
The state checks that you were admitted through a transparent process, with applications, a merit list and a published selection list. The course fees must also be approved by the state’s fee fixation committee. The scheme sets no minimum percentage, but you must have passed the previous exam.
Renewal
Renewal is meant to be automatic. There should be no need for a student to apply again. The award continues to the end of the course, if you do well academically and attend at least 75 percent of classes in each academic year, checked through the Aadhaar-based attendance system. If you fail a class and join it again as a regular student, you get one more year of scholarship or the actual period, whichever is shorter.
Important dates
The official sources checked do not give the 2026-27 application dates. The Gujarat page was updated on 05 Nov 2026 but lists no dates. The central guidelines cover 2020-21 to 2025-26, and the scheme was to continue up to the financial year 2025-26. Check digitalgujarat.gov.in for the current window. Some unofficial listings show 2026-27 dates, but they could not be checked against an official source, so this page does not use them.
The central guidelines also set processing deadlines. For applications received from 1 August to 30 November, the state share is due by 30 December and the central share by 26 January. For applications from 1 April to 31 July, the dates are 15 August and 30 August.
Official pages: Gujarat Director of Scheduled Caste Welfare, BCK-6.1 and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Post-Matric Scholarship for SC students.
Official sources
- GOI’s Post Matric Scholarship for SC Students (BCK-6.1) | Educational | Schemes | Director, Scheduled Caste W
- sje.gujarat.gov.in/dscw/assets/downloads/gr6_dscw_sje_02092022.pdf
Checked against these official sources on 5 November 2026.
