Swami Vivekananda Scholarship 2020 – Online Application Form, Eligibility, Rewards

The Swami Vivekananda Scholarship, more popularly known as Bikash Bhavan Scholarship is a unique scholarship which is a merit cum means scholarship scheme to financially aid the economically poor and deserving students of West Bengal State. The scholarship is particularly aimed for the higher secondary level students, undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and higher levels. The scholarship wore a different look with a different set of conditions and rewards/benefits and the same was selectively revised by taking in expert recommendations and suggestions in the year 2016.

The total amount that is entirely dedicated to this scholarship is INR 2000 crore, an amount that has been significantly raised from INR 45 crore prior to the year 2016.

This article provides detailed information about Swami Vivekananda Scholarship 2020 including important dates pertaining to this article, complete eligibility criteria, detailed application procedure, documentation required to support the application, selection process followed for the scholarship, rewards, and benefits, renewal process, frequently asked questions and contact details with regard to this scholarship.

Learn about National Scholarship Portal

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship 2020 – Overview

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship – Important Dates 2020

This scholarship provides a different timeline for normal applications and for minority students. Candidates have to check and verify on the online portal regarding their respective dates and then apply for this scholarship.

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship – Eligibility Criteria

This scholarship offers grants based on two types of eligibility criteria – basic and detailed. They are explained in detail below:

Basic Eligibility Criteria

• Domicile of the candidate must be West Bengal only.
• Candidate must be pursuing studies at the 11th/12th level or higher. Candidate must be pursuing studies at state board education of West Bengal/ council of higher secondary or higher education or Madrasa education or from a state university only.
• Annual family income of candidates should be less than 2.5 lakhs.

Detailed Eligibility Criteria

Based on the course being pursued by the candidate, every level/course of education has particular conditions to be fulfilled and the same has been enlisted below in the detailed eligibility criteria

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship Application Procedure – How to Apply?

All candidates have to apply online for this scholarship. Every course has a different hyperlink which can be accessed on the online portal (SVMCM). The application procedure for minorities is quite different, they have to apply via the official portal of West Bengal Minorities’ development and finance corporation. All procedures are made online and any candidate submitting separate hard copies to the commission shall not be entertained whatsoever.

The step by step procedure to apply for scholarships via the online portal SVMCM is explained below:

• Registration – Go to the official website and click on the new user registration tab based on the course/ category that you pertain to.
• Account Login- After obtaining your registered user Id and password, log into your account on the official portal.
• Application form filling – Go to the application dashboard and enter the application form area. All details marked as compulsory should be filled in. All entries should be correct and verifiable. Wrong entries won’t be entertained.
• Scan and upload documents – Check the specified size and format to upload required documents on the online portal. Upload documents to support your application.
• Submit application form – after verifying and cross-checking all details, upload the institute verification form that has to be duly signed by the head of your institution. After this step, candidates can finally submit their application form.

Required Documents For Swami Vivekananda Scholarship

The online application form needs supporting documents to be submitted along with the application for verification and cross-checking by authorities. For validation, all these documents should be uploaded in a specified format and size only.

List of documents

• Mark sheets of the last exam passed by candidate [ both sides of mark sheet to be uploaded]
• Admit card obtained for the Madhyamik / equivalent exam.
• Income certificate / income affidavit form.
• The first page of the candidate’s bank passbook.
• Aadhaar card or Voter ID card or ration card
• Recent passport photo with size less than 50 KB
• Institute verification form to be attested/ duly verified by the head of the institution.

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship – Selection Process

In general, merit cum means scholarship is operated on two terms – merit record of the candidate cum financial consideration. This holds well with this scholarship as well. The selection process for this scholarship is explained in the following steps:

• The first metric upon which applications are evaluated is the academic record/ merit of the candidate. So starting from the highest scorers all applications received are arranged and organized.
• Next, based on the least income metric applications are further re-shuffled.
• A student who fairly rises in both these metrics stands a chance to qualify for this scholarship.
• This prepared list is then sending for document verification round.
• Candidates who emerge successful in this validation shall be shortlisted to receive scholarships.
• The scholarship amount is disbursed directly into the applicant’s account through DBT.

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship – Rewards & Benefits

This scholarship provides scholarships to a wide range of courses and the scholarship amount in correspondence with the courses is arranged accordingly. Generally, the scholarship amount varies between INR 1000 per month to INR 5000 per month. The rewards and benefits details with respect to each level of education have been enlisted below for reference:

Scholarships by Directorate of School Education (DSE)

• For higher secondary courses – INR 1000 per month

Scholarships by Directorate of Madrasa Education (DME)

• High Madrasa course – INR 1000 per month

Scholarships by Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) for general degree courses

• For an undergraduate course in arts – INR 1000 per month
• For an undergraduate course in commerce – INR 1000 per month
• For an undergraduate course in science – INR 1500 per month
• For an undergraduate course in UGC approved professional streams – INR 1500 per month
• For a postgraduate course in arts – INR 2000 per month
• For a postgraduate course in commerce – INR 2000 per month
• For a postgraduate course in science- INR 2500 per month
• For a postgraduate course in UGC approved professional streams – INR 2500 per month
• For Non NET- Mphil/Non-NET Ph.D. courses – between INR 5000 – INR 8000 per month

Scholarships for technical education at recognized colleges/ universities of India

• For undergraduate and postgraduate courses in engineering/ professional courses approved by AICTE – INR 5000 per month

Scholarships by the directorate of technical education and training

• For undergraduate polytechnic courses – INR 1500 per month

Scholarships by the Directorate of Medical Education

• Undergraduate courses in a medical stream – INR 5000 per month
• Undergraduate diploma courses in a medical stream – INR 1500 per month

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship – Renewal Process

The renewal process has to be undertaken by the candidate through the online portal and completed within the stipulated time limits as set by the committee. Some of the prominent factors of the renewal process are explained below:

• Renewal of this scholarship is done owing to the last year’s academic performance of the scholar.
• Minimum marks for a student to obtain while being promoted from higher secondary to undergraduate courses is 60%.
• Minimum marks required to obtain a scholarship for a postgraduate level of studies is 50%.
• Additional requirement that all candidates should clear their exams (all semesters) in the first attempt only.
• The renewal process follows the application procedure and is explained below:
• Log into the online application portal.
• Click on the ‘renewal Application’ tab.
• Re-enter all details and update wherever necessary.
• Re-upload all supportive documents.
• Submit the renewal application.

Some of the additional documents to be uploaded during the renewal process apart from regular list of documents:

• If scholarship renewal is being done for 2nd year of study, then the 1st and 2nd-semester mark sheets need to be uploaded.
• For 3rd-year scholarship renewal (for undergraduate courses) – 3rd and 4th-semester mark sheets to be uploaded.
• For 2nd-year scholarship renewal (PG courses) – mark sheets of 1st and 2nd semesters.

Swami Vivekananda Scholarship – Frequently Asked Questions

• How to obtain the institute verification form?

The institute verification form can be downloaded in pdf format from the official website.

• Can I upload the institute verification form after application form submission or not?

In case you are facing delays to get the institute verification form signed the head of your institution, then you can submit the application form first. Then you can upload the verification form at the earliest.

• What are the levels of education for which this scholarship is offered?

This scholarship is offered for UG courses, PG courses, Mphil and doctoral studies.

• Can students studying in colleges outside West Bengal also apply for this scholarship?

NO. It is mandatory for students to be pursuing courses only in the state of West Bengal. Institutes must be recognized by the government of Bengal.

• Can we modify/correct wrongly entered data in the application form after submission?

Any data in the application form that is not genuine shall be treated as invalid. After verification, the application would be deemed canceled.

Contact details of Swami Vivekananda Scholarship

If candidates have any further doubts or queries regarding the application process or the last dates to apply or any general inquiry about this scholarship, they can feel free to contact the helpline team.

Contact address: Higher education, science and technology, and biotechnology department, Bikash Bhavan, 6th floor, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700091

Contact number: 1800- 102- 8014

E-mail address: [email protected]