Moma Minority Scholarships are a Prime Minister’s initiative to help Indian minority students. The main aim of the scheme is to give financial aids to students who belong to minority sectors and who are not able to complete their education. These scholarships are awarded on merit basis. The scholarships which are given will be based on studies in India only and it will be provided by the Government of India.

Main features of the Scholarships

• 30% of scholarships are allocated for girl students
• Students who want to apply should have secured not less than 50% marks in the previous final examinations.
• From every family only 2 students can apply for the scholarship
• The scholarship is given to states where the population of minorities is high.
• This scheme is approved through the state government or the UT administration.
• The candidate cannot avail the scholarship from any other source

Types of Scholarships

• Post Matric scholarships
• Means cum merit scholarship scheme

1. Post Matric Scholarships

Post Matric Scholarships are provided for studies in India at a government or private higher secondary school/college/university. It also includes institutes of the Government and suitable private institutes selected and notified in a transparent manner by the State Government/ Union Territory Administration concerned. It will also cover technical and vocational courses in Industrial Training Institutes/ Industrial Training Centers affiliated with the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT).

The objective of the scholarship is to award the meritorious students who belong to economically weaker sections and to help them to pursue education from class XI to PhD and Technical /Vocational Courses for developing their employ ability skills.

The distribution of scholarship among the States/Union Territories will be made on the basis of population of the above notified minorities in the States/ Union Territories of Census 2001.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible, students should have not less than 50% marks in the previous final examination.
• The annual income, from all sources, of the student’s parents or guardian should not exceed Rs. 2 lakh. Students from BPL (Below Poverty Line) families having the lowest income will be given preference in the ascending order.
• A scholarship holder under this scheme will not avail of any other scholarship/ stipend for pursuing the same course.
• Scholarships will not be given to more than two students in a family.
• 30% of scholarship will be earmarked for girl students. In case sufficient numbers of eligible girl students are not available then the balance scholarship will be awarded to eligible boy students.
• Maintenance allowance will be credited to the Students bank account.

Post Matric Scholarships awardees will be announced by the concerned State Government/ Union Territory Administration through advertisements in the leading language newspapers and local dailies and by using other suitable publicity media. Students can apply online for the Post Matric Scholarship. The scholarship once awarded may be renewed during the next academic year of the course on the production of certificate that the student has secured 50% marks in the examination.

Required Documents

1. Self-attested and signed passport size photograph
2. Income declaration affidavit
3. Proof of permanent residence
4. Minority community declaration affidavit.

Conditions for the Scholarship Award

1. The scholarship will be given to the candidates on their performance and if there is any objection against from the head of the institution then the scholarship head can cancel the awards and can hold or withhold the money for the scholarship.
2. If the students give any false information for winning the scholarship then the authority can cancel the scholarship amount. The concerned candidates will be blacklisted or they will be prohibited from any scholarship scheme forever.
3. A student cannot change the course or institution without the permission from the state government. The institution head can stop the payment of scholarship money.
4. The rules and regulations can change by the government of India.

2. Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme

The objective of the Scheme is to provide financial support to the poor and meritorious students belonging to minority communities to enable them to pursue professional and technical courses. The scholarships are available for studies in India only and are offered through the State Government/UT Administration. Every year, 20000 scholarships will be distributed among the students of minority communities throughout the country. By availing these minority scholarships the students belonging to Minority communities will be able to pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, technical and professional courses. The scholarship application can be submitted online.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Students, who have gotten admission in a recognized college to pursue technical/professional courses, on the basis of a competitive examination.
2. Students, who have got admission in a recognized college to pursue technical/professional courses, without facing any competitive examination, will also be eligible for scholarship. However, such students should have not less than 50% marks at higher secondary/graduation level. Selection of these students will be done strictly of merit.
3. A scholarship holder under this scheme will not avail any other scholarship/stipend for pursuing the course.
4. The annual family income of the beneficiary/parent or guardian of the beneficiary should not exceed Rs.2.50 lakh per annum from all sources.
5. A student residing in a particular State/UT will be entitled for scholarship under    the quota of that State/UT only irrespective of his place of study.

Condition for the Scholarship Award

1. A scholarship awardee under the scheme will not avail any other scholarship or stipend for pursuing the course.
2. The annual income of the student’s parents should not exceed Rs.2.5 lakh from all sources.
3. The state department will announce the scheme each year latest by 31^st March.
4.  The number of scholarship has been fixed state-wise on the basis of minority population of the states/UTs.  Within the state-wise allocations, the applications from reputed institutions will be exhausted first.  The list of such institutions will be made available by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The application has to be submitted in a proper format which has been prescribed and should be submitted to the concerned state government or UT administration. The applicants have to submit the application to the state authority to where they belong and not to the state authority where they are studying.

Required Documents

• Application should consists filled application form in prescribed format
• A passport size photograph with signature of the applicant
• Xerox of certificate/ diploma/ degree of recent examination passed
• Proof of income through an affidavit
• Permanent proof of address.

Scholarship Application Timeline: 30th September, 2013 is the last date for submission of online applications for fresh scholarship by students.

The initiatives taken by the government of India are really outstanding. These awards will fulfill dreams of minority sectors to pursue higher education .

For further information please visit official website.

Good Luck!!

Vaishali Arora