Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – A UGC Scholarship Scheme for Girls

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship is a UGC scholarship scheme initiated with the objective to empower the girls of our country through the means of education. Moving ahead with this objective, the government introduced Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship to compensate the direct cost of girl education pursuing higher education, especially those girls who happen to be the only child of her parents. Under this single girl child scholarship, the selected candidates are offered financial assistance of INR 36,200 per annum.

This is just a brief introduction about the Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship. If you are wondering about its eligibility conditions, award details, application period, application process and other details, read this article which covers all this information and more. Before that, find the highlights of this single girl child scholarship in the table given below.

Highlights of Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship

S.No.	Particulars	Details
1.	Application Period*	October – January
2.	Scholarship award	An annual scholarship allowance of INR 36,200 for a period of 2 years
3.	Eligibility	Girl students pursuing PG courses Only child of their parents
4.	Application process	Apply online through the official portal of National Scholarship Portal (NSP)

* The application period is tentative and subject to change as per the discretion of the scholarship provider.

Now that you have read the overview of Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship, let’s get to know this single girl child scholarship in proper detail.

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – Application Period

The announcement date of this single girl child scholarship varies from year-to-year. However, the scholarship application period generally starts in the month of July every year. The deadline for this Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship falls in the last week of October or January. In the year 2020-21, the last date to apply for this scholarship was 20 January 2021.

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – Scholarship Award

Introduced by UGC with the aim to encourage and promote higher studies among girls and their parents/guardians, this single girl child scholarship provides monetary support on monthly basis for a period of two years to 3,000 girls from across the country every year. The scholarship amount is directly transferred into the awardee’s bank account. Also, the students need to submit a ‘Continuation Certificate’ at the end of every three months in the prescribed format. Now, find below the details of the scholarship award.

• The selected girl students receive a scholarship amount of INR 3100 per month for a period of 2 years, i.e., 10 months per year, which covers the full duration of the postgraduate course to be pursued by the candidates.
• The award is disbursed to students through the UGC designated agency from the date of their joining the 1^st year of PG course. The awardees need to submit a copy of their award letter and joining report along with the photograph, address and contact number to the designated agency.

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for this UGC scholarship, the applicants must be girls studying in universities/colleges/institutions recognised by UGC, State/Central Government or are institutes of national importance. The details of Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship eligibility criteria are given below.

• Applicants must be admitted into the regular, full-time 1^st year master’s degree course in any designated university or postgraduate college.
• The girl candidates must be the only child of her parents. The candidates must not have any brother, though the girl students who are twin daughters/ fraternal daughters may apply for this UGC scholarship.
• The candidates must not be more than 30 years of age at the time of admission into the PG programme.
• The candidates admitted to PG course through distance education mode are not eligible for this scholarship.
• Also, there are no income criteria for students to be eligible for this scholarship.

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – How to Apply

The scholarship application process is easy and simple for applicants as the whole process has been made online. The applicants can apply for this UGC scholarship through the official portal of National Scholarship Portal. Follow the steps highlighted below to fill the application form of Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship.

• The candidates applying on NSP for the first time need to register with NSP as a new user.
• Fill in all the required information and click on ‘Register’ to get registered. A student application ID and password is generated on the registered mobile number.
• The girl candidates need to log in to NSP using the newly generated ID and password. An OTP is sent on the registered mobile number using which the candidates must change their password, which is a mandatory step.
• Once the password is changed, the candidates are directed to the Applicant’s Dashboard Page, where applicants need to click on ‘Application form’ to start the application process.
• The applicants need to provide all the necessary details such as registration details, academic details, basic details, contact details and scheme details.
• All the required documents in support of identity and academic eligibility must be uploaded by the applicants.
• Now, the filled-in application form must be saved as a draft so that the applicant can check every detail once again to make sure they are correct.
• Finally, the candidate must click on the ‘Submit’ button to submit the completed scholarship application form.

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – Key Documents

There are a few important documents that the applicants must keep with them while filling the Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship application form. Given below is the list of all the necessary documents that the applicants need to complete the application process.

• Scanned copy of Aadhar Enrollment/Aadhar Card
• Applicant’s passport size photograph
• Self-attested copy of previous academic mark sheets
• Fee receipt of the current course year

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – Terms and Conditions

The candidates need to mind a few terms and conditions if they wish to avail the benefits of this UGC scholarship. Highlighted below are some rules and regulations attached to this girl scholarship.

• Only those candidates who are in the 1^st year of a PG course are eligible for this UGC scholarship.
• The candidates are not liable to receive any additional grant in lieu of hostel charges, medical charges, etc.
• Under this single girl child scholarship, the host institutes do not charge any tuition fee from the awardees.
• After the completion of one year of the award of the scholarship amount, the candidates need to submit their Progress Report in the prescribed format to the designated bank (Canara Bank), based on which fund for the next academic is released to the beneficiaries. This report needs to be duly signed by the Head of the Department and Registrar of the University or Head of the Institution or Principal of the College.
• The candidates must keep in mind that if they discontinue their studies without prior notice to UGC, they need to refund the whole amount through e-mode (RTGS/NEFT) directly to the UGC account.
• The awardees of this scholarship are not debarred from accepting any other scholarships.
• The scholarship may be terminated if the candidates get involved in any kind of misconduct, provide incorrect information at any stage of the application or score less than 55% in the 1^st year (50% in case of Physically Challenged awardees).

Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship – Contact Details

In case of any query regarding Indira Gandhi Single Girl Child Scholarship, the applicants can submit their question at the email ID mentioned below:

Email ID – sosa3ugc@gmail.com

Besides this scholarship for girls, there are also several other scholarships specifically for girls. Read ‘Scholarships for Indian girls & women’ to know about them.