Most students in India hear about the National Scholarship Portal first, but a large share of the money that actually reaches students each year moves through state portals. Post-matric scholarships for SC, ST, OBC and minority students, fee reimbursement for professional courses, state merit awards and girl-child schemes are very often handled by your own state government on its own website, with its own login, its own deadlines and its own verification officers.
The trouble is that every state does this differently. One state uses a single portal for all welfare departments, another splits schemes across three or four websites, and a few still ask for a printed copy after the online form. This guide walks through the main state systems one region at a time, names the portal each state uses, explains the schemes you are likely to find there and points out the mistakes that cost students their money.
Why Your State Portal Matters as Much as NSP
Scholarships in India come from two levels of government. The Centre funds schemes such as the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships, PM YASASVI and the minority and disability scholarships, and many of these run on NSP. But several big post-matric schemes are shared between the Centre and the states, and in many states the student never touches NSP for them. Instead, the state welfare department collects the form on its own portal, verifies it through the college and the district office, and releases the amount.
States also run schemes that exist only in that state, such as fee reimbursement for engineering or nursing courses, merit awards for toppers of the state board, laptop or bicycle schemes, and support for girls who stay in education. A student who only checks the national portal can easily miss a scheme worth more than every central option put together.
A simple rule helps: check NSP for central schemes, then check your home state portal for state and shared schemes, and then ask your institute which of the two it verifies for each scheme. Most schemes do not allow you to take two government scholarships for the same course in the same year, so the aim is to find the best single option rather than to apply everywhere.
How State Portals Usually Work
Registration and Identity Check
You create an account with your mobile number and Aadhaar, and many states now link this to a state family or citizen ID. Rajasthan, for example, ties scholarship logins to the state single sign-on system, and the Jan Aadhaar family card is generally needed to register there. Other states use their own citizen service login.
Form, Documents and Institute Verification
You fill in personal, academic, income and bank details and upload certificates. Then the form goes to your college or school, where a nodal officer checks admission, fees and attendance. If the institute is not registered on the state portal, your form cannot move forward, so confirm this before you start.
District Approval and Payment
After the institute, a district welfare officer or a state department approves the application. The amount is then paid by Direct Benefit Transfer to a bank account seeded with your Aadhaar and mapped on the NPCI system. Some states pay through PFMS, others through their own treasury system, but the rule about an Aadhaar-seeded, active account in the student’s own name applies nearly everywhere.
Portal Names at a Glance
The table below lists the portal each major state is generally known for and the kind of schemes usually found there. Some states change names or move schemes between portals, so treat this as a starting map, not a final list.
| State | Portal Commonly Used | Typical Schemes Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | UP Scholarship and Fee Reimbursement portal | Pre-matric, post-matric and fee reimbursement for all categories |
| Bihar | PMS Online Bihar | Post-matric scholarship for SC, ST, BC and EBC students |
| Rajasthan | SJE Scholarship portal via SSO | Post-matric, SBC, EBC and chief minister merit schemes |
| Madhya Pradesh | MP Scholarship Portal 2.0 | Post-matric, merit and higher education schemes |
| Maharashtra | MahaDBT | Post-matric, fee freeship and department-wise schemes |
| Punjab | Dr Ambedkar Scholarship Portal | Post-matric for SC and backward class students |
| Haryana | Har Chhatravratti | Post-matric for SC, BC and other eligible groups |
| Karnataka | State Scholarship Portal (SSP) | Pre-matric and post-matric for several departments |
| Tamil Nadu | Department-wise welfare portals | BC, MBC, SC and ST post-matric, often routed via college |
| West Bengal | OASIS, SVMCM, Aikyashree, Kanyashree | Category, merit-cum-means, minority and girl schemes |
| Odisha | State Scholarship Portal | Post-matric and state merit schemes across departments |
| Telangana | ePASS | Post-matric scholarship and fee reimbursement |
| Andhra Pradesh | Jnanabhumi | Post-matric scholarship and fee reimbursement |
| Gujarat | Digital Gujarat | Scholarships of several welfare departments |
| Kerala | e-Grantz | Post-matric support for SC, ST and OBC students |
This table is a reader’s guide put together for general information. We have no link with any state department, ministry, portal or scholarship provider. Portal names, schemes, income ceilings and last dates are revised from one academic year to the next, so always confirm the details on the official state portal or in the latest government notification before you apply.
Northern States and Their Systems
Uttar Pradesh
UP runs one of the largest scholarship systems in the country through its Scholarship and Fee Reimbursement Online System, handled mainly by the social welfare, backward class welfare and minority welfare departments. It covers pre-matric classes as well as post-matric and professional courses. Students should watch the date by which a hard copy, if asked for, must reach the institute, because late submission is a common reason for rejection.
Bihar
Bihar handles its post-matric scholarship for SC, ST, BC and EBC students through a dedicated PMS online portal. Applications usually open in a window announced each year, and students select their category and course type. Bihar also has separate state support for higher education costs through its own student credit card arrangement, which is a loan rather than a scholarship, so read the terms carefully if you see it mentioned alongside scholarships.
Haryana
Haryana uses the Har Chhatravratti portal, run by its higher education department, for post-matric scholarships for SC and BC students and some other groups. The family ID system used across Haryana schemes is often needed to confirm income and residence, so update your family record before the scholarship window opens.
Punjab
Punjab’s post-matric scholarship for SC students runs on the Dr Ambedkar Scholarship Portal.
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, the Social Justice and Empowerment department runs the post-matric and related schemes on its scholarship portal, reached through the state SSO login. Chief minister merit and higher education schemes are also accessed through SSO. A Jan Aadhaar card is generally required, and the family details on it should match your income certificate.
Central and Western States
Madhya Pradesh
MP shifted its scholarships to a newer system known as MP Scholarship Portal 2.0. It brings together post-matric schemes for different categories and state merit schemes for students who score well in the board exams and take admission in recognised courses.
Maharashtra
Maharashtra’s MahaDBT portal is one of the most complete single-window systems. It carries schemes from several departments, including social justice, tribal development, minority development and higher and technical education, along with tuition fee freeship. One login lets you see all the schemes you may be eligible for, but you should still apply only to the scheme that suits you best, because most cannot be combined.
Gujarat
Gujarat runs many of its welfare department scholarships through the Digital Gujarat portal, which is also used for other citizen services. You register once and then choose the scholarship under the relevant department.
Southern States
Karnataka
Karnataka’s State Scholarship Portal, commonly called SSP, has separate sections for pre-matric and post-matric students. Several departments use it, including social welfare, backward classes and minority welfare.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu works a little differently. Post-matric scholarships for BC, MBC and DNC students are handled by the relevant welfare department, and for some schemes the college plays a large role in submitting or forwarding the application. For SC and ST students in self-financing colleges, the college itself generally needs to be registered with the state system. The safest step in Tamil Nadu is to ask your college scholarship office which route applies to your course this year.
Kerala
Kerala uses e-Grantz for post-matric support to SC, ST and OBC students, and the higher education department runs several merit and minority scholarships separately.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
Telangana’s ePASS portal handles post-matric scholarships and fee reimbursement, which is especially important for engineering, pharmacy and other professional courses. Andhra Pradesh uses the Jnanabhumi portal for similar purposes. In both states, fee reimbursement may be paid partly to the student’s account and partly to the institution, and rules have changed with new government orders in recent years, so check the latest order for your course.
Eastern States
West Bengal
West Bengal splits its schemes by purpose. OASIS handles pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for SC, ST and OBC students. SVMCM, the Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means scheme, is a merit-plus-income scholarship that is mainly used by general category students. Aikyashree serves students from minority communities, and Kanyashree Prakalpa supports girls who continue their education.
Odisha
Odisha has brought most of its scholarships onto a single State Scholarship Portal covering several departments, including the schemes earlier processed through the PRERANA system for SC and ST students. The portal also carries state merit schemes for higher education.
Jharkhand and Others
Jharkhand uses its e-Kalyan portal for welfare scholarships, and Himachal Pradesh uses its own ePASS system. Smaller states and union territories sometimes route their schemes entirely through NSP rather than running a separate portal, which is another reason to check both.
Studying Outside Your Home State
State scholarships are generally linked to domicile, which means the state where you are a permanent resident, not the state where your college is. If you are from Bihar and study in Karnataka, a Bihar state scheme may still support you, but the rules on whether out-of-state colleges qualify vary a lot. Some states allow it only for courses not available in the home state or only for institutions of national importance.
Your home state’s welfare department generally needs your out-of-state institute to verify your form, and colleges far away may not be familiar with your state’s system. Contact the scholarship cell of your college early, share the portal name and ask whether they have a login. Keep your domicile, caste and income certificates valid, because many states ask for certificates issued within a set period.
Spotting Fake Portals and Fee Demands
Fraudsters copy the look of state portals and run lookalike sites, social media pages and phone calls. A genuine state portal never charges students a registration or processing fee. Official state portals usually end in gov.in or nic.in, and they never ask for your bank PIN, card details or OTP over a phone call.
Be careful with messages that claim your scholarship is approved and ask you to pay a small amount to release it. No genuine state department works this way. The status of your form is shown inside your own login on the official portal, and the amount moves through DBT. If someone asks for money, refuse, note the number and report it to the cyber crime helpline 1930 or the national cyber crime reporting portal.
It is also worth knowing that scholarships given to meet the cost of education are generally not taxed. Under the old Income-tax Act this was Section 10(16), and under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which applies from 1 April 2026, the exemption appears in Schedule II read with section 11. So an honest scholarship should not create a tax demand, and anyone saying you must pay tax upfront to receive it is likely running a scam.
Your State Portal Roadmap
A practical way to handle all this is to treat the start of each academic year as scholarship season. First, find out the exact name of your home state portal and the departments that use it. Second, get your income, caste and domicile certificates renewed on the state service portal before the window opens. Third, make sure your bank account is in your own name, active, and seeded with Aadhaar for DBT. Fourth, confirm that your institute is registered on the state system and knows your scheme.
After you submit, keep checking the status inside your login every week or two, respond quickly to any objection, and save a PDF of the final application. Renewal students should remember that renewal is not automatic in most states, and a missed renewal date can stop the payments for the rest of the course.
State Portal Questions Students Ask
Can I apply on NSP and my state portal for the same scholarship?
Generally no. Most government scholarships do not allow two awards for the same course in the same year. Check which portal handles your scheme in your state this year and apply only there, or choose the better of two different schemes.
What happens if my college is not listed on the state portal?
Your form usually cannot be verified. Ask the college scholarship office to register with the state department or the district welfare office. Do this early, because registration of an institution can take several weeks.
Do state portals open at the same time every year?
Not always. Many open between July and October, but dates move with admissions, exam results and government orders. Follow the official portal’s notice board and your college notice board rather than relying on last year’s dates.
