SMILE-SCHOLARSHIP

A scheme to provide Financial Assistance in the form of scholarships is provided to Transgender students studying in secondary school (IX & X) & senior secondary school (XI & XII) to reduce the incidence of dropout and support their educational aspirations.

Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is provided to Transgender students studying in secondary school (IX & X) & senior secondary school (XI & XII) to reduce the incidence of dropout and support their educational aspirations.

#### Objectives:

• The objective is to provide financial assistance to Transgender students studying in IX and above to enable them to complete their education.
• To support Transgender students to study further in order to prepare themselves to earn their livelihood and to find a dignified place for themselves in society as they face several barriers physical, financial, psychological, and mental in pursuing studies and living with dignity. At times such students are deprived of harnessing their latent skills and thereby miss the opportunity.
• The scholarship shall be awarded to students studying in a government or private higher secondary school/college/university, including such residential institutes of the Government and eligible private institutes selected and notified in a transparent manner by the State Government/Union Territory Administration concerned.
• The scheme will also cover technical and vocational courses in Industrial Training Institutes/ Industrial Training Centres affiliated with the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) of classes XI and XII level including Polytechnics and other courses (any course of less than one-year duration not covered under this scheme.
• All eligible candidates identifying as Transgender Persons will be considered for scholarship. As the number of scholarships for Transgender persons available in a year is fixed and limited, the selection of applications would be on the basis of total marks achieved in the previous academic year as reflected in the mark sheet.

#### Terms and Conditions:

• The scholarship is dependent on the satisfactory progress and conduct of the Transgender student. If it is reported by the Head of the Institution/School at any time that the student has by reasons of their own act of default failed to make satisfactory progress or has been guilty of misconduct such as resorting to or participating in strikes, irregularity in attendance without the permission of the authorities concerned, etc. The authority sanctioning the scholarship may either cancel the scholarship or stop or withhold further payment for such a period as it may dream fit.
• If a student violates school discipline or any other terms and conditions of the scholarship, the scholarship may be suspended or cancelled.
• If a student is found to have obtained a scholarship by false statement, his/her scholarship will be cancelled forthwith and the amount of the scholarship already paid will be recovered by the Ministry along with penal interest as per applicable rules. The student concerned will be blacklisted and debarred for future scholarships in any scheme forever.
• A transgender student is liable to refund the scholarship amount, if during the course of the year, the studies for which the scholarship has been awarded, are discontinued by the student.

• The student should have a Transgender Certificate issued through the National Portal for Transgender person of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
• The scholarships are open to Indian Nationals only.
• The candidate should not be receiving any other central or state government-funded Pre-Matric/Post-Matric Scholarship. No scholarship will be paid to the students under this scheme from the date they accept another scholarship/stipend. The candidate can, however, accept free lodging or a grant or ad-hoc monetary help from the State Government or any other source for the purchase of books, and equipment or for meeting the expenses on board and lodging in addition to the scholarship amount paid under this scheme

#### Criteria of selection for scholarship:

• All eligible candidates identifying as Transgender Persons will be considered for scholarship. As the number of scholarships for Transgender persons available in a year is fixed and limited, the selection of applications would be on the basis of total marks achieved in the previous academic year as reflected in the mark sheet.
• In case of the same merit, preference shall be generated from the ‘Date of Birth’ criteria of the applicant (senior is preferred) and based on the availability of the slots.
• In the Scholarship, students applying for Post-Matric shall be given preference over Pre-Matric Scholarship.
• The list of selected candidates would be displayed on the portal at a specified date considering, inter alia, the number of slots available for the scholarship.

#### Conditions for Scholarships for Secondary School (IX & X) Transgender Students:

• The candidate should be a regular, full-time student studying in a Government School or in a School recognized by the Government or a Central/State Board of secondary education.
• Migration of students from one school/institute to another, the student shall submit a certificate from the competent authority, in this case, the institution.
• Scholarships for studying in any class will be available for only one year. If a student has to repeat a class, the candidate would not get a scholarship for that class for a second (or subsequent) year.

#### Conditions for Scholarships for Senior Secondary School (XI & XII) Transgender Students:

• The candidate should be a regular, full-time student studying in a Government School or in a School recognized by the Government or a Central/State Board of secondary education.
• Migration of students from one school/institute to another, the student shall submit a certificate from the competent authority, in this case, the institution.
• Scholarships for studying in any class will be available for only one year. If a student has to repeat a class, the candidate would not get a scholarship for that class for a second (or subsequent) year.

• A sum of ₹13,500/- shall be given as post-matric / pre-matric scholarships to eligible transgender students once every year.

• Certificate courses are not covered under the scheme.