College and university students can submit online applications for the Central sector scholarships instituted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India for the year 2023-24 till December 31. Students already receiving the scholarship can also apply for renewals till this date.

The scholarship is implemented in Kerala by the Director of Collegiate Education. Beneficiaries will be selected from among students who have cleared the Class 12 exams conducted by the higher secondary and VHSE (vocational higher secondary exam) boards in the state with more than 80-percentile marks. In other words, applicants should be among the top 20-percent students in the state.

The age of the applicants should be in the range of 18-25 years. The family’s annual income should not exceed Rs 4.5 lakh. Students who cleared correspondence / distance / diploma courses and those receiving other scholarships need not apply. The national website to register and apply for the Central scholarship is www.scholarships.gov.in

After submitting the online application, students have to take a printout and hand it over to the college along with certificates proving income / eligibility / caste and the joining report issued by the principal. Income certificate is not needed to renew the scholarship.

82,000 scholarships
The Central Government is issuing 82,000 scholarships at the national level. After setting apart the scholarships for students clearing the CBSE and ISC board exams, the Centre has allotted scholarships for each state proportionally based on the number of students clearing the Class 12 exams.

The scholarships allotted to Kerala will be divided equally between male and female students. Scheduled Caste students will be eligible for 15 percent of the scholarships, Scheduled Tribe students 7.5 percent and those from Backward Communities 27 percent. Differently-abled students will be given 5-percent of the scholarships in all categories.

Selected students enrolled for degree as well as professional courses will receive the benefit for up to five years. The scholarships will be divided shared between Science, Commerce and Humanities streams in the ratio of 3:3:1.

The annual scholarship amount is Rs 12,000 for undergraduate courses and Rs 20,000 for postgraduate courses. Beneficiaries have to renew their scholarship every year. However, renewal would be allowed only if the students have at least 75-percent attendance and 50-percent marks.

Another condition says that the students submitting applications should have an Aadhaar-linked savings account in a scheduled bank. The scholarship money will be transferred directly to this account. The guidelines also say that colleges have to maintain proper records of the scholarships.

Contact numbers
Details about the scholarships are available on the national portal https://scholarships.gov.in and the ‘Notification’ link on the website of the Directorate of Collegiate Education in Kerala which implements the scheme in the state – www.dcescholarship.kerala.gov.in

Contact number for clarifications is 011-20862360 and email- es3.edu@nic.in. The helpline numbers in Kerala are 9447096580, 0471-2306580.