West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 - Application Status & More

West Bengal Freeship Scheme is a scholarship opportunity offered by the Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal to students who are merit-rank holders in State Level and National Level Entrance examinations.

As announced for this scheme, the undergraduate students pursuing their courses in self-financing private Engineering and Technical institutions of West Bengal will receive a half-tuition fee waiver/half-freeship or full-tuition fee waiver/full-freeship. The applicants must be enrolled in Engineering and Technology/ Pharmacy/Architecture programs. In this article, the focus will be on the full-freeship scheme offered by the state government.

West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 – General Overview

West Bengal Freeship Scheme - Benefits & Eligibility

Name of the Scheme	West Bengal Freeship Scheme (session 2021-22)
Launched by	Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal
Benefits	Tuition fee waiver
Beneficiaries	Undergraduate students enrolled in Engineering and Technology/ Pharmacy/ Architecture programs
Official Website	wbhed.gov.in
Last Date to Apply	31st March 2023

West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 – Eligibility Criteria

The candidates fulfilling the below eligibility criteria can apply for the scholarship on the official website of the Department of Higher Education, West Bengal Government –

Candidates must be domiciles of West Bengal.
Applicants must hold a merit rank in Engineering and Technology/Pharmacy/Architecture at the national or state level.
Annual income of a candidate’s family must not be more than INR 2,50,000.

Note – The West Bengal Freeship Scheme (WBFS) scheme will be implemented for all AICTE-approved government engineering & technology colleges, government aided self-financing engineering & technology colleges and non-aided self financing engineering & technology colleges of the state.

Who is Ineligible to Apply for West Bengal Freeship Scheme?

The following students are ineligible to apply for the scholarship scheme –

The candidates who have been awarded with the West Bengal Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship Scheme (SVMCM) are ineligible to apply.
The students who are receiving any other scholarship from other State/Central Government sources are ineligible to apply for this scholarship.

West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 – Documents Required

The applicants are required to submit a few important documents in support of their application to apply for the scholarship. It is advisable to the students to keep all the scanned copies of all supporting documents handy before starting the application. The list of documents include –

Marksheets for Class 10 and 12
A merit card rank certificate
Authorised domicile certificate.
Income certificate of the family

Note – The annual income of the parents/guardian of the candidates must be determined by an officer of the State Government in the rank of Joint Block Developer Officer.

West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 – Application Process

To apply for the scholarship scheme, candidates need to follow the following steps –

Step 1: Visit the official website or directly visit the WBFS application page.

Step 2: Navigate to the ‘Proceed for Registration‘ button at the bottom of the page, tick the checkbox and click on it.

Step 3: Fill in the required details and submit the registration.

Step 4: After successful registration, fill in the details, upload the necessary documents, and submit.

What is the next Step After Online Registration?

Applicants must fill up and submit the online registration form carefully. Once submitted, an Applicant ID of 15 characters will be generated that should be used to log in and complete the application process.
Next, applicants need to use the generated Applicant ID, password and Captcha to log in successfully and fill up the rest of the application forms.
Now, applicants need to scan and upload the required documents. The file format for the documents should be PDF and the size should not exceed 400 KB.
After uploading the documents successfully, applicants need to click on the ‘Final Submit Application’ button.

Note – Once the application is finally submitted, candidates cannot further edit it.

West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 – Password Policy

Once candidates generate the 15-digit application ID, they also need to set a password of their choice. However, West Bengal Freeship Scheme (WBFS) has a strict password policy that is mentioned below –

Passwords should contain a minimum of 8 characters.
It should also have at least 1 ‘Upper Case Alphabet (i.e A-Z)’.
It should also contain at least 1 ‘Lower Case Alphabet (i.e a-z)’.
It must have at least 1 ‘Numeric Character (i.e 0-9)’.
It should also have at least 1 ‘Special Character (i.e @#$^&*_)’.

How to Download the Domicile Certificate?

Candidates can visit the official website of WBFS and click on the Download option. They will find an option to download the ‘domiciliary certificate’. Once they click the option, a form will appear that they need to download, fill up and get it signed by an authorised government rank-holder.

How to Download an Income Certificate?

Candidates can visit the official website of WBFS and click on the Download option. They will find an option to download the ‘income certificate’. Once they click the option, a form will appear that they need to download, fill up and get it signed by an authorised government rank-holder.

Also read –

West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2023 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the last date to apply for the West Bengal Freeship Scheme 2021-22?

The last date to apply for the state Freeship Scheme 2021-22 is 31st March 2023.

What is TFW in West Bengal?

Tuition Fee Waiver (TFW) means relaxation in tuition fees. These schemes are applicable to those students who are rank-holders in academics and West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) for undergraduate courses in Engineering/Architecture/Pharmacy courses.

Which is Better - Freeship or Scholarship?

Scholarship refers to the financial grant awarded to students who are excellent performers in academics to help them pay for their education. Whereas, freeship is a financial aid provided to students that helps the exclusion from paying tuition fees.

Which scholarship is provided by the government of West Bengal for girl students?

The government of West Bengal offers a number of scholarships to girl students Kanyashree Prakalpa K1, K2, and K3 are well-known scholarship schemes that are offered by the Department of Women Development and Social Welfare. It is a team created by the state government to provide scholarships for girl students between the ages of 13 and 18 years.

Can students apply for the West Bengal Scholarships through the National Scholarship Portal?

All the scholarships offered by the West Bengal government are listed on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). Interested students can visit the official website of NSP and according to the eligibility criteria, they can apply for the scholarships.

What is the minimum percentage of marks required to apply for any scholarship program offered by the government of West Bengal?

The West Bengal government offers several scholarships. According to each scholarship, the eligibility criteria differs. However, students need to achieve a minimum of 50% marks in their last qualifying examination to apply for any of the scholarships offered.