The Indian government has removed the mandatory requirement for domicile certificates for students applying for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) scholarships. This reform aims to ease access for nearly 12 million students who receive benefits annually under the two schemes.
Until now, a domicile certificate was a mandatory submission under both schemes, which often meant students studying outside their home states had to travel back home, resulting in lost wages for parents and payments to touts to expedite the process.
The two schemes cover a wide base of beneficiaries across income brackets, with the Pre-Matric Scholarship for SC students covering those in Classes IX and X with parental income up to ₹2.5 lakh per annum, and the Post-Matric Scholarship extending to higher education up to the doctoral level.
Alongside the documentation reform, the Department has launched SETU — Scholarship for Educational Transformation and Upliftment — on the UMANG platform as a single-window digital solution for all scholarship-related services.
State education departments have begun directing schools to ensure awareness, with Punjab's School Education Department issuing formal directions to District Education Officers instructing maximum outreach among students and parents.
