Have you heard of this famous saying that if the mother is not educated, she cannot rear up a child in a proper way and cannot give the necessary education to be an ideal human being? However observing the growing trend of India, it is confirmed that most of the female child are deprived of even the basic education which acts as a hindrance to their overall present as well as future empowerment. To make them move forward in life and be educated, self sufficient, and stronger in the battle of life, the government of India has introduced a well designed, UGC approved, Indira Gandhi Scholarship scheme for Single Girl Child for both undergraduate as well as Post graduate students, which can act as a beneficial tool for a girl to give a neck to neck competition to a male child when it comes to a basic right like education.

Undergraduate Courses

Eligibility Criteria

-The girl has to be the single girl child in the family.
-She needs to a student who has successfully completed her class 10 under the CBSE Board and the total expenses of class 11 and Class 12 will be covered under this scholarship scheme.
-The scholarship may be extended to students who have completed their class 12 from the same board as well.
-The scholarship is valid for the undergraduate students pursuing education in general line or even a professional course.

How to apply for the scholarship and what are the documents needed?

-If you are an eligible candidate you can download the form from the relevant website of CBSE and fill it for further processing.
-You need to produce the affidavit of parents and the legal documents which carries the proof of your being the single daughter in the family without any siblings. This document needs to be renewed each year with the application of the scholarship.
-You also need to submit the relevant mark sheets for class 10 and 12 respectively.
-For undergraduates, it is mandatory to enclose the previous year’s mark sheets for renewal of the scholarship.

Few important facts:

-Along with the necessary documents, the applicant needs to produce a character certificate duly attested and approved by the principal of the school or college she belongs to.
-The amount of scholarship is different for different courses. For class 11 and 12, the amount fixed is Rs. 500 per month. For undergraduate candidates it is extended till Rs.550 per month. If you are interested in a professional course like engineering, the amount fixed is Rs.1000 per month for the entire tenure of 4 years.
-The scholarship may be availed by 550 undergraduate students, 350 technical students and 150 students appearing for medical.

For Further details, one may visit CBSE Website.

Post Graduate Courses

Eligibility Criteria:

-The girl has to be the single girl child in the family; she might have one or more brothers or may be a twin daughter or even a fraternal daughter of the family.

-The scholarship is valid for a girl child who is admitted to a regular and full time Masters Degree Course (not distance education) in any one of the recognized Universities, or in a post graduate college. The scheme is applicable for 1^st year students only.

-The age of the girl must be within 30 years at the time when she has taken the admission.
-Any girl who is pursuing Masters Degree through distance education is not eligible for the scholarship.
-The amount allotted for the scholarship is Rs. 2000 per month which will be disbursed for two years, i.e. 20 months that covers the full duration of a post graduate course.

How to apply for the scholarship?

One has to apply online for the scholarship, where the applicant needs to go to the official site of University Grants Commission and do the needful.

What are the documents needed for the Scholarship?

-The student needs to download the application form and fill it properly according to the instructions.
-The students need to prepare an affidavit on a stamp paper of Rs.50 and get it duly attested by any Gazetted Officer, SDM, Magistrate, and scan it to upload the pdf version of the same along with the application.
-The college where the candidate has taken admission needs to issue the joining report and that also needs to be uploaded along with the application and affidavit. 

Few important facts

-The Scholarship is valid for students enrolled for the academic year 2013-2015. So if your admission year is 2012 or before you are not eligible for the same.
-If you are an MBA or MTECH student you cannot apply for the scholarship because it is strictly meant for students from non professional PG courses. The reason is simple; the main objective behind the scheme is to promote the PG education of a girl studying in the general line only.

For further details one may UGC Website.