Pragati Scholarship

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) is a statutory body that works towards the development of management and technical engineering education in India in an integrated manner. It also regulates the standard of technical education in the country. Thus, for the welfare of the girl child, the AICTE implements a government scholarship scheme in India by the name Pragati Scholarship.

Under the Pragati scholarship scheme, a total of 4,000 scholarships are offered annually to young meritorious female students for pursuing technical education in India. Every year, the scholarship winners get INR 50,000 per annum as a reward under the scholarship programme.

This programme was launched in 2014-2015, and since then thousands of girl students in India have benefited from the scheme.

To get a quick view of the Pragati Scholarship Scheme, one can refer to the table given below.

The Pragati Scholarship can be availed online only by applying through the National Scholarship Portal. Under the scheme, selected candidates receive INR 50,000 per annum annually to study and for the following:

• Payment of college fees
• Purchase of equipments 
• Purchase of laptops & software
• Purchase of desktops
• Purchase of books 

However, to avail this scholarship, there are a few terms and conditions laid by the authorities that one should be aware of beforehand to apply for the scholarship. The terms are as follows.

• Only the students who have taken admission in the first year of the degree or diploma program in the current academic year are eligible to apply for the scholarship.
• Once the eligibility criteria are met, students have to provide scanned copies of their passport-sized photograph and signature and upload them in JPG/ JPEG format while filling out the application form. The photo file size should not be more than 200 KB and the signature size should not be more than 50 KB.
• Students who have taken admission through the management quota are not eligible to apply for this scholarship.
• Further, to receive the amount, one must have a general savings account in a bank. Candidates cannot use a joint account, minor account, or frill account.
• The scholarship amount is transferred through the DBT or direct benefit transfer mode into the shortlisted candidates' bank account.
• In case the shortlisted applicant is not available, then the scholarship is transferred to the next deserving candidate.

The AICTE Pragati Scholarship for girls is an initiative to support girl students pursuing technical education at the diploma and degree level. It aims to provide financial help for the advancement of girls in the technical field.

To apply for the scholarship, the foremost eligibility is to be a girl student and to be admitted to the first year of a diploma/ degree course or second year through lateral entry at AICTE approved institutions. Further, one should also have a family income of less than INR 8,00,00 per annum to avail the benefits.

To apply for the Pragati Scholarship, the girl student must be studying in a college or institution approved by AICTE. Further, they should meet the laid eligibility criteria which are explained below.

• The student must be a girl child residing in India.
• Only two girls per family are eligible to apply for the scholarship scheme.
• Candidates must be admitted to the first year or second year (through lateral entry only) of the AICTE approved college or institution for a technical diploma or degree programme in the current academic year through the centralized admission process of central and state government.
• Lastly, the annual family income of the girl child should not exceed INR 8 lakhs during the preceding financial year to be eligible for the scholarship.
• Further, if the applicant is married, the income of parents/ in-laws would be taken into account, whichever is higher.

To apply for Pragati Scholarship, it is necessary for the students to apply online through the National Scholarship Portal. Further, the students must also provide the required details and upload certain documents in the prescribed format to complete the application process in time to avail maximum benefits.

Pragati Scholarship - Application Process

AICTE has a systematic process that helps in availing the scholarship scheme easily. To help applicants in the application process, the AICTE allows them to fill the form through the NSP portal. We have provided a step-by-step approach to fill the Pragati Scholarship application form.

• First, the candidates have to register themselves on the NSP portal by clicking on the ‘New Registration’ button. 
• Next, students are advised to read the guidelines that appear on the screen carefully and fill in all the required details to complete the registration.
• After successful registration, candidates will receive an application ID and password on their registered mobile number and email ID.
• Now, using the received application ID and password, candidates are required to log in to the National Scholarship Portal to further fill out the application form. 
• A mandatory step includes changing passwords for security purposes.
• The next step is to upload the scanned copies of the required documents to successfully finish the application process.
• Remember to take a screenshot or save a copy of the acknowledgement or submission page for the future reference.

There is a list of essential documents that the applicants must provide while filling out the application form for the Pragati Scholarship. It is advised to the candidate to keep scanned copies of the following documents ready beforehand to ease the application process. The candidates must upload these documents in the prescribed format only.

• Aadhaar card
• Applicant’s passport-sized photograph (JPG/ JPEG format, not more than 200 KB)
• Applicant’s scanned copy of signature (JPG/ JPEG format, not more than 50 KB)
• Class 10th mark sheet
• Class 12th mark sheet
• Annual family income certificate of the preceding financial year in the prescribed format by Tehsildar or above competitive authority
• Admission letter issued by Centralised Admission Authority to first-year degree diploma programmes for the current academic year
• Receipt of paid tuition fee for the current academic year
• Aadhaar, seeded bank passbook, showing the applicant’s name, account number, IFSC code, and photo pasted at an appropriate place, duly signed by the manager with rubber stamp of the bank fixed on it.
• Certificate issued by Director/ Principal/ HOD as per the prescribed format
• Attested copy of caste certificate in case the applicant is applying under the SC/ ST / OBC category
• A duly signed declaration by parents as per the prescribed format which states that the information provided by the applicant is correct and the scholarship amount would be refunded. In case any false information is found at any stage during the process

Last date to apply for Pragatai Scholarship 2024 is yet to be announced. The dates related to the opening of registration process and the last date to fill the application form for Pragati Scholarship varies from year to year.

• In the year 2020, the last date to apply for the scholarship was 31st January 2021.
• Whereas in 2021, it was 30th November 2021.
• Similarly, in the year 2022, the last date to apply was 31st December 2022.

Thus, after analyzing past year trends it is expected that this year the Pragati Scholarship 2024 last date for application form would be by the end of this year.

The scholarship amount offered under the Pragati Scholarship scheme will grant shortlisted candidates various benefits and rewards such as:

• AICTE Pragati Scholarship will reward a total of 4,000 girl students in which 2,000 scholarships will be given to students pursuing technical diploma courses and the other 2,000 scholarships will be reserved for technical degree courses.
• The shortlisted scholars will receive a tuition fee of INR 50,000 or the actual tuition fee amount, whichever is less.
• The selected candidates will also become eligible to get INR 20,000 per month for 10 months as incidental charges annually.
• In case of tuition fee reimbursement/ waiver, the girl students are eligible to get an amount of INR 50,000 for the purchase of equipment/ books/ laptops/ software/ desktop/ vehicle/ fee paid towards competitive examinations, application forms and exam forms/ forms for higher employment jobs.

If somebody has a doubt or a query regarding the AICTE Pragati Scholarship, the candidates can send their queries through an email at pragatisaksham@aicte-india.org.

In order to check the application status for the Pragati Scholarship, it is advised to check the merit list of the Pragati Scholarship Scheme.

To check the merit list, the candidates have to visit the official website and search for the scholarship merit list option and find their names.