Sitaram Jindal Scholarship: Monthly Amounts by Course

What you get

Unlike many scholarships that pay one lump sum, the Foundation pays a monthly amount that varies by course category, by gender (girls receive more in every category — a deliberate design), and with an additional hostel allowance for students staying in recognised hostels. The category structure, as consistently reported by scholarship guides based on the Foundation's annexure, is:

• Category A — Class 11 and 12: ₹500/month for boys, ₹700/month for girls
• Category B — ITI students: ₹500/month in government ITIs, ₹700/month in private ITIs
• Category C — Undergraduate courses: ₹1,100/month for boys, ₹1,400/month for girls
• Category C — Postgraduate courses: ₹1,500/month for boys, ₹1,800/month for girls
• Category D — Diploma courses: ₹1,000/month for boys, ₹1,200/month for girls
• Category E — UG engineering: ₹2,000/month for boys, ₹2,300/month for girls
• Category E — UG medical: ₹2,500/month for boys, ₹3,000/month for girls
• Category E — PG engineering and medical: ₹2,800/month for boys, ₹3,200/month for girls

The support continues through the duration of the course subject to satisfactory performance, and renewal carries a slightly lower marks requirement than the fresh application — typically a five-percentage-point relaxation. Disbursement is electronic, directly to the student's bank account; no cheques or demand drafts.

Who can apply

Three tests decide eligibility, and all three must be cleared.

Academic test — the marks. Minimum marks in the previous qualifying examination vary by category, with a five-percentage-point relaxation for girls in each case. The widely reported national thresholds are: Class 11/12 — 65% for boys, 60% for girls; undergraduate courses — 65% for boys, 60% for girls; postgraduate courses — 70% for boys, 65% for girls; diploma — 60% for boys, 55% for girls; engineering and medical — 70% for boys, 65% for girls. ITI government institutions require only pass marks, while private ITIs require around 45% for boys and 35% for girls. One caution: the Foundation's own terms vary some of these thresholds by state, and scholarship guides disagree on a few figures — so the percentages above are the standard guide, and the authoritative version is whatever the current application form on the Foundation's website says.

Income test — the means. Annual family income must not exceed ₹4,00,000 where the earning parent is salaried, or ₹2,50,000 for all other families — farmers, the self-employed, daily-wage earners and the unemployed. The income certificate must come from a competent government authority (Tehsildar, SDM or District Collector), not from a local official letterhead.

Status test. You must be an Indian student enrolled full-time in a recognised institution in India, and you must not be older than 30 at the time of application. The Foundation also gives special consideration to physically challenged students and to the widows and unmarried wards of ex-servicemen, with relaxed criteria. Critically, you must not be receiving another scholarship — the Foundation's terms state that students getting financial support from other sources are generally ineligible, so this award requires you to choose. A gap of more than about two years between your qualifying course and your current one can also disqualify you.

How to apply

The application goes through the Foundation's own website at sitaramjindalfoundation.org — not through the National Scholarship Portal, not through an agent. The online portal is the modern route, but the application has one stubbornly old-fashioned step that catches people out: the printed application must carry the signature and stamp of your college principal or head of institution. No institutional verification, no application — so start with your principal's office, not with the website.

• Read the current scholarship page on the Foundation's website and confirm the cycle terms before you touch a form.
• Fill in the online application with your own details: course and institution, previous examination marks, family income and bank account details.
• Prepare your documents: identity proof, passport-size photograph, previous examination mark sheets, the government-issued income certificate, domicile certificate, caste certificate if applicable, and the front page of your bank passbook showing account number and IFSC.
• If you are a hosteller claiming the additional allowance, get the hostel warden's certificate confirming your residence in a recognised hostel.
• Get the principal's signature and stamp on the application, submit it through the portal, and keep a copy with the acknowledgment.

Applications are accepted through the year on a rolling basis toward the cycle deadline — scholarship guides report either 31 October 2026 or a tentative 31 December 2026 for the current cycle — so confirm the deadline on the portal itself and do not use it as an excuse to apply late. Early applications have more processing time, and an incomplete application discovered in the last week is an application wasted.

Common mistakes

The failure patterns repeat every year. Students apply while holding another scholarship and lose both opportunities' time. Income certificates arrive on the wrong authority's letterhead and get rejected. The principal's verification is left for the last day and the principal is unavailable. Applicants over 30 apply without noticing the age bar. Engineering applicants in private colleges apply with marks below the Category E threshold. And plenty of students simply let the cycle deadline pass because the rolling acceptance made it feel like there was no deadline. Against that list, the fix is dull but effective: confirm the current terms on the Foundation's website, assemble documents before you start, get institutional verification early, and submit with margin. For a monthly scholarship that can run the entire length of a degree — and that treats girls' education as a priority, not an afterthought — that is a small amount of work.

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