OBC Scholarship – OBC Scholarship is offered to the students belonging to the OBC category. The government of India, state governments, and non-government organizations offer scholarships for students belonging to OBC (Other Backward Categories). The main purpose behind offering this scholarship is to provide financial support to the OBC students in their endeavor to pursue further studies. The government distributes around Rs 900 crores per year for the OBC scholarship and lakhs of students are benefited from this scholarship every year.

Mainly, 6 types of OBC scholarships are offered to the candidates and these scholarships are National Fellowship for OBC, Pre & Post matric OBC scholarships, Central Sector Scheme of National Overseas, ONGC Scholarships, and Merit Scholarships for OBC, Delhi. Read the whole page to know important details related to OBC scholarships such as eligibility criteria, application & selection process, reward and more.

OBC Scholarship – Overview 

Particulars	Detail
Name of The Scholarship/ Fellowship/ Olympiad	OBC Scholarship
Category	Scholarship
Scholarship Offering Authority	Government of India, state governments, and non-government organizations
Mode Of Application	Both online and offline

Complete List and Important Dates of OBC Scholarships

Students who are keen to know about the scholarships offered to OBC category students can check the complete list of OBC Scholarships here. It will help the students to select appropriate scholarships that fit their requirements. In the table below, we have furnished the list of OBC scholarships along with the total number of scholarships, offering authority, and application date. 

OBC Scholarships

Scholarship	Number of Scholarship	Scholarship Offering Authority	Tentative application period*
National fellowship for OBC	300	Government of India	July-August
Central Sector Scheme of National Overseas	25	Government of India	July-October
Merit Scholarship for OBC Students (Delhi)	NA	State Govt Delhi	March- April
ONGC Scholarship	1000	Oil and Gas Corporate Limited	September- October
Merit Scholarship for OBC students in Technical Education (Delhi)	NA	State Govt Delhi	March-April
Pre-matric Scholarship	NA	All State Government	September-December
Post-matric Scholarship	NA	All State Government	September-December

National Fellowship for OBC

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India offers a National Fellowship for OBC students. This scholarship aims to encourage OBC students to pursue higher education and provide them with financial support. This scholarship covers programs such as M.Phil. and PhD. Under this scholarship, every year, a total of 300 students are selected for Senior Research Fellow (SRF), Junior Research Fellow (JRF) and the other project schemes that cover all University Grants Commission (UGC) recognised universities. 

The students selected for Junior Research Fellow receive the fellowship amount for 2 years and the students continue their research then they receive the fellowship amount for Senior Research Fellow for another 3 years. Besides the fellowship amount, the selected researchers are also benefited from other allowances such as HRA, medical, etc. The OBC students who are also PwD get 3% reservation out of 300 scholarships.

Eligibility Criteria for National Fellowship for OBC

1. The candidates belonging to any of the OBC communities whose family income is less than Rs 6 lakh per year are eligible to apply for National Fellowship for OBC.
2. The candidates must be holding a PG degree in any subject and should be desired to pursue full-time research. The students who are passed in UGC-NET or UGC-CSIR NET are not eligible for this fellowship.
3. Transgender candidates are now also eligible to apply for this fellowship.

Application Process for National Fellowship for OBC

Candidates who wish to apply for the National Fellowship for OBC need to fill an OBC Scholarship form in online mode. The application form can be submitted from July- August month. In order to apply for National Fellowship for OBC, candidates need to follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Visit the official website of the University Grants Commission and find the link to apply for the National Fellowship for OBC.
2. Applicants will have to fill in all the details asked in there. The application form can be filled in two separate parts. The application will be required to provide their personal information and contact details in the first part.
3. In the second part, the candidates will have to provide the details of postgraduate qualifications, institute details, research topics, supervisor, and fellowship details etc.

Selection Process For National Fellowship For OBC

The applicants who will successfully submit the OBC Scholarship form will be considered for the National Fellowship for OBC. Selection of the candidates will be done based on merit-cum-means. The selection committee at UGC follows their own mechanism to verify the genuineness of the applicants. The list of candidates selected for this fellowship is published on the official website of UGC.

National Fellowship for OBC awards

Candidates selected for the National Fellowship for OBC receive the fellowship amount as under:

Value of Fellowship	Faculty	Time Period (yrs.)
INR 25,000 per month (JRF)INR 28,000 per month (SRF)	Respective Faculty of Science, Humanities, Social Science, Engineering and Technology	Initial 2 yearsRest of the tenure
INR 10,000 per annumINR 25,000 per annum	Contingency for Humanities & Social Science	Initial 2 yearsRest of the tenure
INR 12,000 per annumINR 25,000 per annum	Contingency for Science, Engineering & Technology	Initial 2 yearsRest of the tenure
INR 3,000 per year to the host institution (per student)	Department assistance (all subjects)	—
INR 2,000 per month to the physically and visually handicapped students	Reader’s assistance (all subjects)	—

Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas

The Government of India offers a Central Sector Scheme for some of the selected OBC students who want to pursue a Master’s degree or PhD from a foreign university. The Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas covers only a few fields of study which are Management, Engineering, Agricultural Science and Medicine. A total of 25 fellowships provided in each field of study through this scheme and 30% of the scholarships are reserved for the female candidates. The candidates who seek this fellowship to pursue PhD course are provided with the fellowship amount for 4 years and the master’s candidates will receive the fellowship amount for 3 years. Apart from this, the selected fellows will also get other allowance such as incidence journey allowance, poll tax, medical insurance, visa fees, airfare, local travel allowance etc.

Eligibility Criteria For Central Sector Scheme For National Overseas

1. The candidate who belongs to the OBC category and is enrolled in a Masters and PhD degree course in a foreign university are eligible to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas.
2. To be eligible for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas, the candidates must have secured at least 60% marks in their previous course.
3. Applicants must be aged less than 35 years at the time of application. 
4. The annual income of the family must not exceed INR 3 Lakh per year. 

Application Process for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas

Candidates who want to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas will be required to fill an application form in offline mode. The application form can be submitted during July-October month. In order to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas, applicants need to follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Firstly, the applicants need to obtain the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas application form from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
2. Fill the application form by providing all the required details such as educational qualification detail, personal detail, contact detail, current course detail, foreign university detail etc. 
3. After filling the application form, the candidates will have to attach the required documents and send it to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. 

The candidates who are currently employed will have to send the application form through their employer. Such candidates will also have to submit the latest tax assessment and monthly salary slip form along with the application form. 

Selection Process for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas

A selection committee constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India will be responsible to select the most deserving candidates for the fellowship. The candidates who are already studying at a foreign university will be given priority for this scheme. The list of selected candidates would be published on the official website of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.

Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas – Awards

The candidates selected for the central sector scheme for national overseas are awarded the maintenance and research allowance for studying in a foreign university. In the table below, we have mentioned the detail of the award along with the total number of scholarship for each field of study:

Course	No. of Scholarships	Maintenance allowance in the US (annually)	Maintenance allowance in the UK (annually)	Research allowance in the UK (annually)	Research allowance in the US (annually)
Engineering	7	USD 15,400 plus USD 1500 additional for books etc	GBP 9,900 plus GBP 1100 additional for books etc	GBP 1,560	USD 2,400
Management	6	USD 15,400 plus USD 1500 additional for books etc	GBP 9,900 plus GBP 1100 additional for books etc	GBP 1,560	USD 2,400
Agricultural Science	6	USD 15,400 plus USD 1500 additional for books etc	GBP 9,900 plus GBP 1100 additional for books etc	GBP 1,560	USD 2,400
Medicine	6	USD 15,400 plus USD 1500 additional for books etc	GBP 9,900 plus GBP 1100 additional for books etc	GBP 1,560	USD 2,400

Pre-matric Scholarship to OBC in India

Under the Pre- matric scholarship plan of the government of India, all the state and union territories of India offer Pre-matric Scholarship to OBC candidates. The main objective of Pre-matric Scholarship is to encourage the OBC category candidates to pursue a quality education. The students who study in any government or private schools which are recognized by the appropriate authority are eligible to apply. On selection, the students receive a monthly stipend up to Rs 1000 per annum. 

The Pre-matric Scholarship is tenable only for those students who study in a government school or government authorized school. The central government and state government together offer this scholarship. 50% of the scholarship amount is sponsored by the state government and the central government makes a 50% contribution for this scholarship. Every year, thousands of students are selected for the Pre-matric Scholarships in India. 

Eligibility Criteria for Pre-matric Scholarship to OBC in India 

1. The students who study in any government or private schools which are recognized by the appropriate authority are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
2. The applicants must be studying in any pre-matric classes. 
3. The family income of the applicants must not exceed Rs 2.5 Lakh per year. The family income of the applicants belonging to Delhi should be under Rs 44,500 per annum (for financially weaker students).
4. Many members from a family can apply for Pre-matric Scholarship

Application Process for Pre-matric Scholarship to OBC in India

The students or the parents of students who want to apply for a Pre-matric Scholarship to OBC in India will have to apply once at the school where the student is studying. The school will have to submit the applications of the candidates to the authority of the state government before the deadline. 

Pre-matric Scholarship: Award

After submission of applications, almost all the eligible candidates are selected for the scholarship. The selected candidates are benefited with the scholarship award as under:

Class	Value of scholarship	Time period (months)
Class I to IX	INR 100 per month	10
Class III to IX	INR 500 per month	10

Post-matric scholarship to OBC in India

All the state and union territories of India offer Post-matric Scholarship to OBC candidates under the post-matric scholarship plan of the government of India. Post-matric scholarship to OBC in India aims to encourage the students who are studying in post-matric classes to get a quality education. The candidates selected for this scholarship receive a monthly stipend up to Rs 750 per month for a period of 10 months in a calendar year.  This scholarship covers the non-refundable fees of their course such as tuition fees, games fees, union fees, library fees, study tour fees, etc. The central government sponsors a total of 100% amount to be distributed for Post-matric scholarship to OBC in all Indian states. Every year, the government of India distributes around Rs 720 crore for the post-matric scholarship for OBC. 

Eligibility Criteria for Post-matric scholarship

The candidates belonging to the OBC category and studying in any post-matric courses at any authorized school, college, institute, or university are eligible to apply for a Post-matric scholarship to OBC in India. The candidates who are born in a different state and studying in another state are also eligible for this scholarship. 

Application Process for Post-matric Scholarship

The eligible candidates have to apply for this scholarship before the deadline. Application forms are submitted using both online and offline mode during the September-December month of every year. The online application form can be submitted on the respective state portal. The applicant will have to provide all the required details in the application form and attach all the necessary documents such as passport size photo, a copy of certificates, original caste certificate, diploma/ degree certificate, income declaration certificate. The application form must be submitted before the deadline. 

Post-Matric Scholarship: Award

After submission of applications, almost all the candidates will be offered the post-matric scholarship. The scholarship will be provided for two categories which are day scholars and hostellers. The selected candidates will be awarded as under:

Course	Day Scholars	Hostellers
Group A- (I) Degree and postgraduate degree level course such as M.Phil., PhD in Medicine (II) Commercial pilot license (III) Postgraduate diploma course in Management and Medicine (IV) CA/ICWA/CS etc(V) M.Phil., PhD and postdoctoral programmes (VI) LLM	INR 750	INR 350
Group B- (I) Graduate and postgraduate course in Pharmacy, Nursing etc (II) Postgraduate courses (MA, M.Sc., M.Com)	INR 510	INR 335
Group C- All other courses such as B.Sc., B.A, B.com, etc	INR 400	INR 210
Group D-  All post matric level non-degree courses such as 3-year diploma in Polytechnics, ITI, etc.	INR 260	INR 160

Merit scholarship for OBC, Delhi

The Department of the welfare of SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, Delhi offers Merit scholarships for students belonging to the OBC category. The main objective of this scholarship is to provide financial support to the meritorious OBC students who are currently studying in class 6 to 12th and those who are studying in colleges or technical institutes. Every year, thousands of students are selected for this scholarship and the selected candidate receives a maximum allowance up to Rs 1,620 per month and up to Rs 4,500 per annum. 

Eligibility Criteria For Merit scholarship For OBC, Delhi

1. Students belonging to OBC category who are studying in class 6 to 12 or in colleges or technical institutes are eligible for this award. The applicants must have secured at least 55% marks in their last exam (class 6 to 12). Students who are studying in professional courses in technical institutes/colleges are required to obtain at least 60% marks in Class 12th or its equivalent. 
2. The family income of the applicants must not exceed Rs 2 Lakh per annum

Application Process for Merit Scholarship for OBC, Delhi

Candidates who want to apply for Merit scholarship for OBC, Delhi will have to submit an application form during the month of March/ April. The application form can be submitted in online mode only.  To apply for Merit scholarship for OBC, Delhi, follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Visit the official website of the Delhi government and find the application form for this scholarship. 
2. Applicants need to now fill the application form by providing all the required details.
3. Now, the applicants need to attach the required documents such as passport size photo, caste certificate, income certificate, a copy of bank passbook, fee receipt of the academic year, Aadhar card.

Merit scholarship for OBC, Delhi: Reward

On selection of the application form, the selection authority will select the candidates for this scholarship. The basis of selection for this scholarship is the merit of the candidates in the previous exam. The candidates selected for Merit scholarship for OBC, Delhi are rewarded as under:

Courses	Day Scholar allowance (per annum)	Hostellers allowance (per annum)
Group A– Degree courses –Medical, Engineering, B.Sc. Agri, Forensic science etc	INR 1,620	INR 900
Group B– (I) Postgraduate course in a technical/professional course (II)  Diploma Level courses- Engineering, Architecture, Applied Nutrition, Printing technology etc	(I)INR 1,860 (II) INR 1,110	(I) INR 960 (II) INR 720
Group C– (I)  Certificate course – Engineering and architecture (II) Medicine diploma courses- Agriculture/Veterinary Science, Dairy, Fishery, public health etc (III) Degree or postgraduate diploma or postgraduate courses – Music, Fine Arts, Law, etc Group D– (I)  General course to undergraduate level (II) Postgraduate course in arts and commerce	(I) INR 930 (II)INR 804 (III)INR 930	(I)INR 630 (II) INR 420 (III) INR 630

ONGC scholarship

Oil and Gas Corporate Limited (ONGC) offers ONGC scholarships to the candidates belonging to the OBC category and to the economically backward general category candidates. The scholarships mainly aim to provide financial assistance (maintenance allowance) to the most deserving candidates to pursue the UGor PG course. Every year, ONGC selects 1000 students for this scholarship. This scholarship covers engineering, MBBS, geography, Physics, management courses. 

ONGC Scholarship Duration

Courses	Duration
Graduate in Engineering	4
MBBS	4
Master in Geology/Geophysics	2
MBA	2

Eligibility Criteria for ONGC Scholarship

1. The scholarship is offered to the candidates belonging to OBC and economically backward general students. 
2. The applicants must be studying in any of the above-mentioned courses. The candidates must pursue any of these courses recognized by AICTE.
3. The candidates must have secured at least 60% marks in their class 12 exam.
4. The family income of the candidate must not exceed Rs 2 Lakh per annum.
5. The age limit for an ONGC scholarship is 30 years at the time of application.

Application Process for ONGC Scholarship

Candidates who are desired to be selected to apply for the ONGC scholarship will have to fill an application form. The application form can be submitted only through online mode from September- October month. The candidates have to follow the steps mentioned below to fill the application form:

1. Visit the official website of Oil and Gas Corporate Limited at ongcindia.com.
2. The applicants need to first register themselves by proving the required details such as email id, name, mobile number etc.
3. Now, the applicants have to fill the application form by entering all the required details.
4. Now, attach the required documents such as caste certificate, mark sheet of the qualifying certificate, income certificate Aadhar card, PAN card, ECS mandatory form filled by the bank, CGPA to percentage conversion certificate, etc.
5. Applicants have to now submit the application form.

Selection Process for ONGC Scholarship

The candidates will be for ONGC scholarship on the basis of their merit in the qualifying exam. The candidates with lower family income will be given priority during the selection process.

ONGC Scholarship: Reward

The students selected for this award receive a monthly maintenance allowance of Rs 4,000.

OBC Scholarship Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What are the scholarships available for OBC students in India? A: Mainly, 6 types of OBC scholarships are offered to the OBC candidates. Names of these scholarships are National Fellowship for OBC, Pre & Post matric OBC scholarships, Central Sector Scheme of National Overseas, ONGC Scholarships, and Merit Scholarships for OBC, Delhi.

Q: Last year I was selected for the post matric scholarship for the first year of my UG course, do I need to apply again this year? A: No, once you are selected for the scholarship for any post matric course, you will not be required to apply again until you complete the course.

Q: Who is eligible to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas A: The candidate who belongs to OBC category and is enrolled in a Masters and PhD degree course in a foreign university are eligible to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas. The candidates must have secured at least 60% marks in their previous course. Applicants should be aged less than 35 years at the time of application and the annual family income of the applicants must not exceed INR 3 Lakh per year.

Q: I’m studying in a University located in the UK, what are the benefits I can avail once I am selected for the Central sector scheme for nationals overseas?  A: The candidates selected for the central sector scheme for national overseas are awarded the maintenance and research allowance for studying in any foreign university. If you are studying in a Uk based university then you will receive GBP 9,900 plus GBP 1100 additional for books etc under the Central sector scheme for nationals overseas.

Q: What will be the mode to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas?  A: Candidates who want to apply for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas will be required to fill an application form in offline mode. The application form can be submitted during July-October month.

Q: Where can I obtain the application form for Merit Scholarship for OBC students in Technical Education (Delhi)?  A: You can obtain the application form for Merit Scholarship for OBC students in Technical Education (Delhi) in March month of every year.

Q: Do I need to pay the application fee to apply for a Post-Matric Scholarship? A: There is no application fee to be paid while applying for the Post-Matric Scholarship.

Q: How are the students selected for the Central Sector Scheme for National Overseas? A: A selection committee constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Government of India will select the most deserving candidates for the fellowship. The candidates who are already studying in a foreign university will be given priority for this scheme.

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