WBMDFC – Scholarship Types, Eligibility, Applications, Institutions

WBMDFC or West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation is a state government body that offers financial assistance to the  students belonging to religious minority groups (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains) of the West Bengal state. It offers different types of scholarships for the students of West Bengal who find it difficult to continue with their school or college studies l.

Students who wish to apply for WBMDFC scholarships have to apply online through the official scholarship website (www.wbmdfcscholarship.in or www.wbmdfc.org). Beneficiaries can avail scholarship amount up to Rs. 33000/-. The scholarship amount is distributed to the beneficiaries/students directly into their bank account.

Besides this information, Buddy4Study advises students to continue reading this article to get clarity on WBMDFC scholarships.

WBMDFC – Important Highlights

The WBMDFC Scholarship Scheme 2020-21 offers financial assistance to students from religious minority groups (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains) of West Bengal. Students from Class 1 to the ones pursuing PhD/ technical/professional courses can apply for WBMDFC scholarship. 

Important Information related to WBMDFC

Particulars	Details
Name of the scheme	WBMDFC Scholarship/Aikyashree Scholarship
Launched by	Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department of West Bengal Minorities Development & Finance Corporation
Launched in	West Bengal State
Launched for	Students belonging to Minority Communities
Type of category	State Government scheme
Official website	www.wbmdfcscholarship.in www.wbmdfc.org
Helpline Number	1800-120-2130 6290875550 (Technical Helpdesk)
Helpline Email ID	scholarship.wbmdfc@gmail.com

WBMDFC – Scholarship Application Dates 2020-21

Particulars	Start Date	Last Date
Pre-Matric Scholarship	1st August 2020	15th November 2020
Post Matric Scholarship (Fresh and Renewal)
Merit Cum Means (Fresh and Renewal)
Swami Vivekananda Merit cum means (Fresh and Renewal)
Talent Support Programme (Fresh and Renewal)

WBMDFC – Reasons for Creating this Scholarship Programme

West Bengal has been offering numerous scholarships to students so that their educational journey never comes to a stop. 

Apart from the reason stated above, West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporation wanted to:

1. Provide education loans for poor and meritorious students for their studies
2. Undertake programmes to empower women from minority groups
3. Provide different scholarships for poor and worthy students
4. Provide training to students for various competitive exams
5. Promote training programmes to develop and upgrade the skills of students
6. Make students financially independent with the help of  education
7. Improve the literacy ratio in West Bengal

WBMDFC – Types of Scholarships

There are 5 types of scholarships and 4 Loan schemes under the WBMDFC programme. 

WBMDFC Scholarship Programmes

Pre- matric Scholarship	Students from Class 1 to Class 10 can apply for this scholarship programme.
Post-matric Scholarship	Students from Class 11 to PhD level candidates can apply for this scholarship programme.
West Bengal Merit- cum- Means Scholarships	This scholarship is offered to those candidates who are pursuing technical or professional courses.
Talent Support Stipend	This scholarship is a State Government-sponsored programme, where 30% of scholarships are reserved for female students.
Swami Vivekananda Merit Cum Means Scholarship	This scholarship is offered to the minority candidates who are pursuing technical and professional courses.

WBMDFC Loan Schemes

West Bengal Term Loan	It is a term loan scheme for people belonging to the notified minority communities. WBMDFC offers a term loan up to Rs. 5 lakhs. People availing the loan can repay the amount with 6% interest in 12 equal or 20 quarterly instalments in 3 or 5 years.
Micro Finance (Directly to SHGs)	It is a microfinance scheme where the amount up to Rs. 1,00,000/- is directly given to per member of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). As per this small loan distribution, at least 60% of members of SHGs should be from the Minority community. People availing the loan can repay the amount with 7% per annum interest in 24 months.
Minority Women Empowerment Programme	This program is launched by MA & ME Dept. (Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department), Government of West Bengal. This scheme offers soft loans to women from minority groups for any income-generating activity or business such as small business, cottage industry, handicrafts, etc. The rate of interest levied on them is 3%. The offered subsidy of the loan amount is at 50% and a woman can avail a maximum of Rs. 15000 as the loan amount.
West Bengal Educational Loan	This scholarship is offered to students pursuing professional courses like Medical, Engineering, Management, Nursing, and Law, etc. The student applying for this loan must be of the minority community. The student’s age group should be between 16 to 32 years. The annual family income for the students should not be more than Rs. 98,000 (rural area) and Rs. 1,20,000 (urban area) per year Maximum Rs. 20 lakhs loan amount is given to students studying within the country. Maximum Rs. 30 lakhs loan amount is given to students studying abroad. Students can repay the loan with 3% interest in easy instalments after 6 months of completing their course of employment.

WBMDFC – Eligibility Criteria

As per the WBMDFC, the eligibility criteria are different for different types of scholarships. Students have to apply for the scholarships as per their education level. 

Pre-matric Scholarship

1. The student must be a domicile of West Bengal.
2. The annual family income should not exceed Rs. 2 lakh.
3. The student must be studying in a School/ Institution recognized by an educational Board/ Council/ University of the State/ Central Government.
4. Students studying in institutes outside West Bengal will not be eligible for the pre-matric or post-matric scholarship.
5. The student must have secured not less than 50% marks or equivalent grade in the previous year’s final examination.

Merit Cum Means Scholarships

1. The student must be a domicile of West Bengal.
2. The annual family income of the student should not be more than Rs. 2.5 lakh.
3. The student must have secured at least 50% marks in the last Higher Secondary/ Graduation examination.0
4. The students residing in West Bengal but pursuing studies in listed institutions with WBMDFC but located outside West Bengal are also eligible to apply.

Post-matric Scholarship

1. The student must be a domicile of West Bengal.
2. The annual family income of the student should not exceed Rs. 2 lakh.
3. The student must have secured not less than 50% marks or equivalent grade in the previous final examination.
4. Students studying in institutes outside West Bengal will not be eligible for the pre-matric or post-matric scholarship.
5. The student must be studying in a School/ Institution recognized by an educational Board/ Council/ University of the State/ Central Government.

Swami Vivekananda Merit Cum Means Scholarship

1. The student must be studying in  Class 11 or 12.

Or 

The student must be pursuing graduation in Engineering, Medical and Technical/Professional courses aside from the general Under Graduate, Post Graduate level students pursuing General Degree courses.

2. The annual family income of the student should not exceed Rs.2.5 lakh.

3. The scholarships will be sanctioned to deserving students on merit-cum-means criteria.

4. Students pursuing M.Phil. courses and Doctoral courses from state-aided iInstitutions are also eligible to apply for this scholarship.

Talent Support Stipend

1. The student must be a domicile of West Bengal.
2. The annual family income of the student should not be more than Rs. 2.5 lakh.
3. The student must have secured at least 50% marks in the last Higher Secondary/Graduation examination.
4. The student must be pursuing a technical/professional course.
5. The students residing in West Bengal but pursuing studies in listed institutions with WBMDFC which are located outside West Bengal are also eligible for applying.

WBMDFC – Benefits of WBMDFC Scholarships 2020

Often there are queries from students about how WBMDFC scholarships can provide them with the promised assistance. What they will find here is a list of benefits that WBMDFC scholarships 2020 offer:

1. WBMDFC scholarship 2020 scheme will save the students from taking loans for their education
2. It will provide financial help to students who could not afford their fees
3. This scholarship scheme will improve the literacy ratio in West Bengal
4. More employment opportunities will be created
5. Dropout ratio will decrease
6. Parents will be financially motivated to send their children to school
7. The performance of students will also improve due to reduced financial burden

WBMDFC – Scholarship Rewards

The WBMDFC scholarship amount is awarded to only those students who have scored more than 50% marks in their previous examination. It is from the State Government fund from where the amount is granted to eligible students. The scholarship amount is given to the beneficiaries under two groups – Day scholars and Hostellers. 

Students will find below the detailed scholarship incentives in both categories.

Scholarship Incentives for Hostellers

Types of Scholarship	Class of Study	Admission fee & tuition fee waiver	Maintenance Allowance waiver	Total benefit
Pre-Matric	6 to 10	INR 4400	INR 6600	INR 11,000
Post-Matric	11 and 12	INR 7700	INR 4200	INR 11,900
	11 and 12 (technical and vocational courses of this level)	INR 11,000	INR 4200	INR 15,200
	Undergraduate and Postgraduate	INR 3300	INR 6300	INR 9600
	M.Phil.	INR 3300	INR 13,200	INR 16,500
Merit-cum-Means	Medical Engineering, Management, Law, Chartered Accountant, etc. courses	INR 22,000	INR 11,000	INR 33,000

Scholarship Incentives for Day Scholars

Types of Scholarship	Class of Study	Admission fee & tuition fee waiver	Maintenance Allowance waiver	Total Benefits
Pre-Matric	1 to 5	–	INR 1100	INR 1100
	6 to 10	INR 4400	INR 1100	INR 5500
Post-Matric	11 and 12	INR 7700	INR 2500	INR 10200
	11 and 12 (technical and vocational courses of this level)	INR 11,000	INR 2500	INR 13500
	Undergraduate and Postgraduate	INR 3300	INR 3300	INR 6600
	M.Phil.	INR 3300	INR 6000	INR 9300
Merit-cum-Means	Medical Engineering, Management, Law, Chartered Accountant, etc. courses	INR 22,000	INR 5500	INR 27500

WBMDFC – Selection Procedure

There are 2 categories of students who can attain WBMDFC scholarship:

1. New candidates
2. Candidates applying for a renewal scholarship

• For New Scholarship, the corporation will only consider a student eligible based on merit and subject to the budgetary allocation provided by the State Government
• For Renewal Scholarship, the corporation will only consider students who have obtained 50% marks in his/her previous examination

WBMDFC – Overview of Application Procedure

In the below section, students will find the detailed steps to fill and submit the WBMDFC application form. But to make things easier, Buddy4Study has created this brief application procedure for all the schemes and scholarships provided by West Bengal Minority Development and Finance Corporations.

Scholarship	Application
Pre-Matric Scholarship	The online applications are LIVE from June to August every year. Candidates have to visit www.wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in to apply Students must submit the filled-in hard copy of the application at the respective institutes. Self-attested copy of bank passbook of the applicant/ jointly within the parents and income certificate by the competent Authority must be attached and send with the hard copy of the application form
Post Matric Scholarship	Online applications are generally received from June to August every year. Applications have to be filed online through www.wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in Students must submit the filled-in hard copy of the application at the respective institutes. Self-attested Copy of bank passbook of the applicant/ jointly within the parents and income certificate by the competent Authority must be attached and send with the hard copy of the application form
Merit-cum-Means Scholarship	The online applications are generally received from June to August every year. Applications have to be filed online via www.wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in
Swami Vivekananda Merit cum Means Scholarship	The application will be received via the portal www.wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in
Talent Support Stipend	The online applications are generally received from June to September every year. The application will be received through portal www.wbmdfcscholarship.gov.in Copy of bank passbook, income certificate by the competent Authority and copy of the mark sheet of the last examination must be attached send with the hard copy of the application form at the concerned Institute
Educational Loan	Candidate needs to apply for the loan online by visiting www.wbmdfc.net This loan is available throughout the year
Micro Finance (Directly to SHGs)	The application should be submitted in the prescribed format of the Corporation. The application can be submitted at any time of the year. For any details or query about the application, the person seeking loan amount may contact the concerned District Office.
Term Loan	The loan application forms may be collected from the Minority office situated in the office of the District Magistrate, Sub Divisional Officer( S.D.O.) or Block Development Officer (B.D.O.).
Minority Women Empowerment Programme	The application should be submitted in the prescribed format of the Corporation. The application can be submitted at any time of the year. For any details or query about the application, the person seeking loan amount may contact the concerned District Office.

WBMDFC – Step by Step Application Procedure

Students who wish to enrol themselves and apply for WBMDFC scholarship must have the access to the necessary certificates and documents (highlighted below) before moving ahead to the application process. 

To continue with the application process, students must follow the below steps:

1. Visit the official WBMDFC website.

2. Click on New Registration tab present on the Home Page3. Select the District of your Institute

4. Fill in the required personal student information like:

• Domicile State*
• Domicile District*
• Block / Municipality*
• Student’s Name*
• Father’s Name*
• Mother’s Name*
• Gender*
• Religion*
• Date of Birth*
• Mobile No*
• Savings Bank A/C No*
• Re-enter Savings Bank A/C No*
• Bank IFSC Code*
• CAPTCHA code

*Mandatory

5. Finally, click on Submit and Proceed tab

6. Now, enter the scheme eligibility column on the webpage.

7. Click on the Submit & Proceed tab

8. Enter your Relevant Scholarship Scheme

9. Click on the Submit & Proceed tab

10. Check Your Relevant Scholarship Scheme & Process accordingly

11. Now, a temporary User ID will be generated.

12. Check your email or inbox as the password will be sent there

13. Login with Your User Id and Password on Student Log-In window

14. Enter the below-mentioned details:

• Basic Information
• Academic Information
• Bank Account Information

15. For extra safety, change your password (it is mandatory) and click on Submit

16. Enter the details under Basic Information option

17. Click Submit and Proceed

18. Then enter the details under Academic Information option

19. Click Submit and Proceed

20. Fill Up Bank Account Information and verify

21. Finally, verify all the details by clicking the Pre-View tab

22. Click on Final Submit tab

23. Take a printout copy of the application form

24. Submit the application form at the concerned institute along with a photocopy of your bank passbook containing bank account number and IFSC Code

WBMDFC – Documents Required During Application Process

While applying for the scholarship of the West Bengal department, students need to keep in hand the below list of documents:

• Bank account details (compulsory)
• Domicile certificate (compulsory)
• Aadhar card (optional)
• Family Income proof/ Self Income proof (if working) (compulsory)
• Previous qualification mark sheet copy (compulsory)
• Date of birth proof
• Photograph (compulsory)
• Institution Verification Form (compulsory)
• Fee Receipt of current course year (compulsory)
• Residential Certificate (compulsory)

Renewal of WBMDFC Scholarship Form

In case a student wants to renew his/her WBMDFC scholarship application form, he/she needs to follow the below steps:

1. Visit the official website of WBMDFC

2. Click on the Renewal Application option, which will take you to a new window

3. Select your district and click OK on the dialogue box appearing on the screen

4. Log in by entering the application ID, date of birth, district and captcha code

5. Click Login

6. An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number. Enter the sent OPT and submit.

7. Click on Renew Application

8. Enter the asked details in the registration form

9. Click on Submit and Next

10. Enter previous and current academic details

11. Click on Submit and Next

12. Check and verify your bank details like IFSC, bank and branch name, bank account number and name in the bank account as per passbook

13. Click on Submit and Next

14. Upload the necessary documents with the form (your institute verification certificate)

15. Submit the application form by clicking Submit and Next tab

16. Finally, review the details before finally submitting the form

17. Click on Submit and Lock Renewal Application tab

18. A popup will be displayed asking if the details are correct. If they are, click on OK

19. Click on Print Renewal Application to get your application’s printout.

WBMDFC – How to Track Application Status?

1. Visit the official website of WBMDFC
2. Click on Track Application tab in the menu bar
3. Next, Select Your district, application ID and date of birth
4. Enter the captcha code that appears on the screen
5. Finally, click on the Submit tab

WBMDFC – List of Institutions

To see the list of institutions registered in your district with WBMDFC, candidates have to follow the simple steps given below:

• Visit the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation’s  Official WBMDFC Website link
• Select the district from the name of the districts displayed on the webpage.
• A new window will open, displaying the list of the districts will be displayed on your screen.

To see the list of registered institutions:

• Visit the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation’s  Official WBMDFC Website link
• Click on the list of a registered institution
• Select your district and click on submit
• The list of registered Institutions will be on your screen

A few of the LISTED INSTITUTES under the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation are listed below:

(For full reimbursement of course fee under MCM in West Bengal)

Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT), P.O. Kharagpur-721302.

Indian Institute of Management, Joka, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata-700104

National Institute of Technology, Durgapur-713209.

National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata.

WBMDFC – FAQs

Who can apply for WBMDFC scholarship?

Any student who belongs to a religious minority category (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains) and is a domicile of West Bengal can apply for WBMDFC scholarship.

Do I need my Aadhar number to apply for WBMDFC scholarship?

Although the Aadhar number is not mandatory, using it for WBMDFC application process is always advised.

Where can I get the application form?

Application forms are available both at the WBMDFC office as well as the official website.