National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities

Name of the Scheme

National Fellowship for Persons with Disabilities

Funding by

Central Government

The scheme covers:

1. All universities/institutions recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC)
2. Central/State Universities (including constituent and affiliated institutions) included under Section 2(f) of UGC Act, 1956 and having valid accreditation from NAAC.
3. Deemed Universities under Section 3 of UGC Act i.e. Institution for higher education notified by Central Government to be deemed University, in consultation with the UGC and having valid accreditation from NAAC.
4. Institution fully funded by State/Central Government and empowered to award degrees.
5. Institutions of National Importance as notified by Ministry of Education.

Eligibility criteria

General Eligibility Conditions –

• The scholarships are open only to Indian nationals.
• All the components of scholarships are open to students with benchmark disability i.e., 40% or more disability as defined in ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and having a valid certificate of disability issued by the competent authority as prescribed under Rules.
• Not more than two children with disabilities of the same parents will be entitled to receive benefits of the scheme. In case the second child is a twin, the scholarship under the schemes will be admissible to the twin.
• Scholarship for studying in any class will be available for only one year. If a student has to repeat a class, she/he would not get scholarship for that class for a second (or a subsequent) year.
• A scholarship holder under this scheme will not avail any other scholarship/stipend. No scholarship will be paid to the students under this scheme from the date he/she accepts any other scholarship/stipend.
• UDID/UDID enrolment shall be mandatory for availing the benefits of the Scholarship scheme.

Scheme Specific Eligibility Conditions –

• Fellowship is open to students with benchmark disability (i.e 40% or more disability) as defined in ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and having a valid certificate of disability as prescribed under rules issued by the competent authority.
• Fellowship holder under this scheme will not avail any other scholarship/stipend. No scholarship will be paid to the students under this scheme from the date he/she accepts any other scholarship/stipend.
• Fellowships shall be awarded to candidates for pursuing regular and full time M.Phil./Ph.D courses in Universities/Research Institutions as referred in the scheme guidelines.
• A scholar is eligible to receive only one fellowship at a time. The scholar is required to declare that he/she will not accept/receive any other monetarybenefit/scholarship/fellowship from other sources. In other words, a scholar who is awarded fellowship under this scheme shall not accept any other fellowship/scholarship or hold any appointment, paid or otherwise, or receive any emoluments, salary, stipend etc. from any other source during the tenure of the award (except in case of ‘academic leave’ of one year). If a scholar is already in receipt of any scholarship/fellowship, he/she will have to relinquish either the previous scholarship/fellowship/any other monetary benefit or to forgo the selection under this scheme.
• A scholar who does not complete his/her research work during the period of fellowship shall not be eligible to apply again under this scheme. Similarly, a scholar who has completely or partially availed any of this fellowship for Ph.D. earlier shall also not be eligible for fellowship again under this scheme.
• After two years of joining the fellowship on the pattern of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), if the progress in the research work of the fellow is found satisfactory, his/her tenure will be extended for a further period of three years on the pattern of Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) as per UGC Fellowship Guidelines issued from to time.
• The fellowship shall be paid from 1stApril of the year for which candidate is selected or from the date of Registration under M. Phil/Ph. D. or from the date of joining M. Phil/Ph. D programme, whichever is later.
• In case of integrated M. Phil & Ph.D. or Ph.D., the maximum tenure is 5 years. For doing M.Phil., fellowship shall be granted for two years or upto the date of submission of M.Phil. Dissertation, whichever is earlier.
• The maximum allowed gap period for continuation from M.Phil. to Ph.D. under this scheme shall be 2 years (from the date of declaration of result of M.Phil. to date of admission to Ph.D.). However, the total tenure of fellowship shall remain five years excluding the gap period. No fellowship shall be paid during the gap period.
• The fellowship shall be granted up to the date of submission of Ph.D. thesis or five years of tenure, whichever is earlier. No extension is permissible beyond the total period of five years of fellowship.
• Employees of any University/ College/ EducationalInstitution/ Central/ State/ UT Government shall beexcluded from availing Fellowship, even if they are on Study Leave or Extra Ordinary Leave to pursue the M. Phil./ Ph. D. course.
• No fellow will not be considered for the award for second or subsequent times as the individual can be awarded the fellowship only once in a lifetime.

Benefits Provided

The rates of fellowship will be at par with the UGC Fellowships. Presently these rates are as follows: –

S. No.	Particulars/ Component of Fellowship	Financial assistance under Scheme
1	Fellowship (For All Subjects)	@ INR 31,000/- per month on the pattern/norm of JRF for in 2 years. @ INR 35,000/- per month on the pattern/norm of SRF for subsequent period of maximum 3 years.
2	Contingency (For Humanities, Social Sciences and Commerce) (including Arts/Fine Arts)	@ INR 10,000/- per annum for initial two years. @ INR 20,500/- per annum for remaining tenure
3	Contingency for Science, Engineering & Technology	@ INR 12,000/- per annum for initial two years @ INR 25,000/- per annum for remaining tenure.
4	Escort/Reader assistance (as per verification of the respective Nodal Officer of the University/Institute)	@ INR 2,000/- per month.
5	House Rent Allowances (HRA)	@ 9%, 18% and 27% to those students who are not provided with hostel accommodation, in accordance with Govt. of India norms as applicable in the research fellows are working.

Note –
(i) Regarding HRA

• In case, hostel accommodation is provided to the scholars by their institutions, the scholar is eligible to draw only the hostel fee excluding mess, electricity, water charges etc.
• In case hostel accommodation offered by the university/institution is refused by the candidate, he/she will forfeit his/her claim of HRA.
• In case of non-availability of hostel accommodation, the scholar may be provided with single accommodation by the host institution. In such cases, the rent paid by the scholar on actual basis shall be reimbursed, subject to the ceiling of HRA as per Govt. of India norms.
• If the scholar makes his/her own arrangements of accommodation, he/she shall be entitled to draw HRA as per ceiling and categorization of cities by the Government of India.
• In case the scholar wishes to draw HRA, he/she is required to claim HRA on monthly basis by submitting monthly confirmation Certificate in the prescribed format, to his/her institution.

(ii) Other facilities such as medical facilities, leave including maternity leave will be governed as per the guidelines of UGC in case of their fellowship programme.

Category of Scheme

Fellowship

Scheme Guidelines

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Beneficiary:

The objective of the scheme is to provide fellowships in the form of financial assistance to Persons with Disabilities (Divyang jan) to pursue higher studies leading to M.Phil/Ph.D in Science, Humanities or Social Science, in Indian Universities/Institutions/Colleges recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC).

Benefits:

As Mentioned Above