SPDC SCHEME (SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME FOR DIASPORA CHILDREN) FOR NRI, PIO & CIWG STUDENT COMMUNITY

1. SPDC Scholarship is awarded to following four categories:

(i) Children of Persons of Indian Origin/Overseas Citizens of India.

(ii) Children of Non-Resident Indians.

(iii) Children of Indian Workers in ECR countries studying outside India.

(iv)Children of Indian Workers in ECR countries studying in India

Under SPDC scheme financial assistance for specific undergraduate courses in Professional and Non-Professional courses (except Medical and related courses) is provided towards tuition fee, admission fee and post admission services. Only fresh year students (Ist year) students should be eligible to get the scholarship.

2. NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS:

Total No of Scholarships = 150

Scholarships for NRIs and PIOs = 100

Scholarships for CIWG = 50

33 Scholarships earmarked for Children of Indian workers (CIWG) in the 17 Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries who have studied outside India till +2 / Equivalent subject to fulfilling eligibility conditions

17 Scholarships earmarked for Children of Indian workers (CIWG) in the 17 Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries who have studied in India till +2 / Equivalent subject to fulfilling eligibility conditions

If any of these seats are not filled up, they will be made available to applicants from other categories under SPDC and vice-versa

3. Eligibility Criteria for Various Categories:-

(a) "Persons of Indian Origin" (PIOs) shall mean the Persons who are citizens of other countries (except Pakistan and Bangladesh) who at any time held an Indian Passport, or who or either of his/her parent or any of his/her grandparent was a citizen of India by virtue of provisions of the Constitution of India or Section 2 (B) of Citizenship Act, 1955 (Act No. 57 of 1955).

(b) "NRI" - As defined in Income Tax Act, 1961 an individual is Non-Resident, when he/she is "not a resident" or who is "not ordinarily resident". A person is treated as "not ordinary resident" when any of the following conditions is satisfied. (i) If he/she has not been resident in India in nine out of ten preceding years; (OR) (ii) If he/she has not been in India for a period of 730 days or more during the preceding seven years.

(c) Candidates from all the categories must have passed grade 11 and grade 12 from abroad. However To apply under the quota under category of Children of Indian Workers in ECR countries, who are left behind in India, the candidate must have passed the Senior Secondary (10+2) or equivalent examination from a system of education recognized by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

4. Other Eligibility Criteria:-

Age: The SPDC is open to applicants in the age group of 17 to 21 years as on 31st October 2019.

Minimum Marks in qualifying Examination: The candidate must have secured a minimum of 60% aggregate marks or equivalent grades in aggregate of all the subjects in the qualifying examination.

INCOME CRITERIA: Income criteria will be applicable to all categories of candidates i.e. NRIs & PIOs The total monthly income of the parent(s) of the candidate should not exceed an amount equivalent to US Dollars Four thousand (US$ 4000). The applicants’ parents will provide a self attested salary certificate from the employer.

5. Financial Assistance: The scholarship amount is given for payment of tuition fee, admission fee and post admission services including hostel fee but excluding payment of food charges. In the First Year partial financial assistance is upto 75% of the total Institutional Economic Cost subject to a maximum of US$ 4000 per annum. The financial assistance is also given in the second year and subsequent years, the details of which are available in the guidelines on the SPDC website.

Candidates securing admission in undergraduate courses in any of the following are eligible to apply for SPDC:-

1. Central Universities of India offering Under Graduate Courses;
2. ‘A’ Grade Institutions accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and recognized by UGC
3. National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Schools of Planning and Architecture and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) through DASA Scheme

6. The interested candidates can log on to/ register on www.spdcindia.gov.in  for details and apply on the portal. Last Date for submission of Completed Application Form online on SPDC portal (http://spdcindia.gov.in) is 30th November 2019.

Please note that applications in any other format or in hard copy will not be accepted.