Schemes for young Indians with disabilities: scholarships, livelihood, and skill training

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities runs scholarships at pre-matric, post-matric, and overseas levels. The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation extends term loans for self-employment. ADIP supports assistive devices. Skill-training programmes are coordinated through the National Action Plan for Skill Training of Persons with Disabilities.

YouthPower tracks 158 schemes in this category, of which 30 are central government programmes and 128 are state government programmes.

What to look for when applying

Disability certificate from the competent medical authority is mandatory, with the percentage of disability assessed and recorded. Many scholarships require minimum forty per cent benchmark disability for eligibility.

Named examples

• AICTE – Saksham Scholarship Scheme For Specially-Abled Student (Degree) (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  Saksham is a Scholarship Scheme by the Ministry of Education, implemented by AICTE, aimed at providing encouragement and support to specially-abled children to pursue technical education. This is an attempt to give every young specially-abled student the opportunity to study further.
• AICTE – Saksham Scholarship Scheme For Specially-Abled Student (Diploma) (Central · scholarship · Ministry of Education)
  Saksham is a Scholarship Scheme by the Ministry of Education, implemented by AICTE, aimed at providing encouragement and support to specially-abled children to pursue technical education. This is an attempt to give every young specially-abled student the opportunity to study further.
• Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) (Central · other · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  The scheme aims to boost entrepreneurship and innovation among SC students and SC differently-abled youth by providing focused support to translate innovative, technology-oriented business ideas into successful commercial enterprises. It offers equity funding and hand-holding support.
• Central Sector Scheme of National Fellowship for Providing Fellowship to Scheduled Caste Students to Pursue M.Phil. & PhD (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  The scheme provides opportunities to Scheduled Castes students to pursue higher education leading to M.Phil/Ph.D degrees in Sciences, Humanities and Social Science streams. The objective of the scheme is to provide fellowships in the form of financial assistance to SC students.
• Construction of Hostels for OBC Boys and Girls (Central · other · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  The Scheme aims at providing hostel facilities to students belonging to socially and educationally backward classes, especially from rural areas, to enable them to pursue secondary and higher education.
• Divyangjan Kaushal Yojana (Central · training · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  The scheme aims to ensure dignified livelihood opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) by providing industry-relevant and customized training specific to each group. The scheme provides skill development in high-growth sectors such as Information Technology, Animation, Visual Effect, etc.
• Free Coaching for Students with Disabilities (Central · training · Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment)
  A Scheme "Free Coaching for Students with Disabilities" was initiated by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the "Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment".
• IASRI Scholarship For M.Sc And Ph.D (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare)
  The Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute is a premier Institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for conducting research and education in the field of agricultural statistics and computer application in agriculture.
• ICAR Junior Research Fellowship For Post-Graduate Studies In Agricultural Sciences (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare)
  ICAR awards a certain number of Junior Research Fellowships for Postgraduate Studies (course and research work) leading to a Master’s degree, in different disciplines of agriculture and allied sciences. This is done to encourage talented students to undertake higher agricultural education.
• ICMR-Junior Research Fellowship (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Health & Family Welfare)
  ICMR-Junior Research Fellowship (ICMR-JRF) examination is the first step in the process of admission to the PhD/Research Programme through council's support.
• IVRI Institute Scholarship For M.V.Sc. And Ph.D. (Central · scholarship · Ministry Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare)
  The Indian Veterinary Research Institute will award scholarships to MVSc and PhD students who need financial assistance.his provision will be utilized to assist as many students as possible who have good academic record and who are making diligent efforts to pursue higher education.
• Innovation In Science Pursuit For Inspired Research (INSPIRE) - Faculty Fellowship (Central · other · Ministry Of Science And Technology)
  The "INSPIRE FACULTY FELLOWSHIP" component provides opportunities to 100 persons every year with Ph.D. qualifications in the age group of 27-32 years for 5 years to carry out research in both basic and applied science areas including engineering, medicine, agriculture, and veterinary sciences.

The most active ministries in this category are Ministry Of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Education, Ministry Of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry Of Science And Technology, Ministry Of Health & Family Welfare.

States with the highest number of dedicated state-government schemes in this category are All, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana.

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