Post Matric Scholarship for Students with Disabilities 2026‑27

This central scholarship helps students with a benchmark disability of 40% or more pay for study from Class 11 up to postgraduate level. The scheme is administered by DEPwD, the disability department under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Applications go through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) at scholarships.gov.in. Your parents’ or guardian’s income from all sources must stay within Rs. 2.5 lakh a year.

The payment reaches a bank account linked with your Aadhaar by direct transfer. The award covers tuition or admission fees, other fees, a monthly maintenance allowance, a yearly book allowance and a disability allowance.

What you get

The DEPwD page itself says rules and amounts should be checked on the official portal before you apply. The page does not name a session for these rates. The NSP’s own FAQ says opening and closing dates are set by the DBT Mission and shown on the portal.

Maintenance is given for 12 months. The DEPwD page gives the disability allowance as a range of Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 4,000 a year, and the scheme guidelines split it by disability type. The DEPwD page states no period for the fee ceiling. Older scheme guidelines put that ceiling at Rs. 1.50 lakh a year, so confirm the current figure on the NSP notice.

Who can apply

• Only Indian nationals qualify.
• You need a disability of not less than 40% and a disability certificate from the competent medical authority.
• A UDID number, or an enrolment number with your disability certificate, is mandatory.
• You can be in Class 11 or 12, or in a diploma, degree or postgraduate course. The course must be at a recognised school or institution.
• Students on correspondence courses are eligible, and the term includes distance and continuing education.
• Not more than two children with disabilities of the same parents can receive the scholarship. For twins, both children are eligible.
• You cannot receive another post-scholarship or stipend. If you are offered another scholarship, you choose the more beneficial one and tell the head of your institution.
• Moving to a different subject at the same stage does not qualify, for example B.Com after B.A. Students pursuing LLB, B.Ed or B.El.Ed after a B.A., B.Sc or B.E. can apply.
• The official sources I checked do not publish an age limit or a minimum percentage of marks.

How to apply

1. Keep your UDID card and Aadhaar card ready.
2. For a first application, use “Student Registration” on the NSP home page and fill in every mandatory field. Mandatory fields carry a red asterisk.
3. Save the form to receive an Application ID and password. You need these to reopen the form, check its status and renew next year.
4. You can fill the form over several sittings, and the portal saves at each stage.
5. After final submission, the form goes to your institute and cannot be edited.
6. Your institute and then the state check the entries against your documents. Your bank account details are then checked through PFMS.
7. If your institute is missing from the drop-down, ask the institute to contact the state nodal officer, who registers eligible institutes.

The DEPwD page points to a portal at post-scholarships.gov.in, while the NSP FAQ names scholarships.gov.in. Start from scholarships.gov.in and check that the site is run by the Government of India before you enter any details.

Documents you need

• Aadhaar card, or the Aadhaar enrolment receipt if you do not have one.
• A disability certificate from the competent authority designated by the District Medical Officer or civil surgeon of a government hospital.
• A parental income certificate signed by the revenue authority. Form 16 is not accepted.
• Your previous year’s mark sheet. The tuition fee receipt.
• A bank passbook or cancelled cheque leaf.
• A student photograph.

If the scholarship amount is below Rs. 50,000, you do not upload documents on the portal. If it is above Rs. 50,000, upload the documents before final submission. Files must be PDF or JPEG, and each must be under 200 KB.

How students are selected

Meeting the eligibility rules does not guarantee an award, because the number of slots is fixed each year. The scheme sanctions 17,000 post-matric scholarships a year. Those slots cover both fresh and renewal cases.

If too few eligible women apply, the unused slots go to men. Selection is on merit, after the state or UT government recommends students.

Renewal

• The scholarship covers one year for each class. A student who repeats a class does not get it for that class.
• Renewal applies to students selected last year who continue the same course.
• To renew, log in with last year’s Application ID and password, then update the fee details and marks. If you have lost the ID, the portal can find it by bank account number or mobile number.
• If you fail in the first attempt, the award may be renewed. Second and later failures are at your own expense until you are promoted.
• If illness or another unforeseen event stops you sitting the annual exam, the award may still be renewed with a medical certificate.

Important dates

The NSP listing for this scheme that I could open shows 2024-25 dates, with applications open until 31 October 2024. A newer NSP listing shows the post-matric student application window open until 30 November 2026. The official pages checked for this page do not confirm the 2026-27 closing date, so check the NSP scheme page before you apply.