Many consider education as an essential tool for the development of an individual and in a developing country like India, education is a crucial facet for us to develop into a potential super-power in the global stage. A crucial step towards achieving this goal came in the 4th of August 2009 when the Indian Parliament enacted The Right to Education Act. Under this rule, it is compulsory right for children between the age of 6 to 14 to get education. Even with this rule, many students especially those who come from economically challenged backgrounds don’t have many opportunities and options to pursue higher education and through that start a successful professional career. To help unprivileged students get an opportunity to experience higher education, there are a plethora of scholarship opportunities available and in the article, we will take a look at some of the best scholarships that are for unprivileged students.  

1. Shubh Aarambh Scholarship program: This is a unique scholarship program that is offered by Mondelez International and the Magic Bus India Foundation. This scholarship is particularly focused on developing poor students for their further education. This scholarship is for students who have passed 12th standard students who aspires to continue their further studies. The scholarship is awarded for students whose annual family income is below three lakhs and per year, the selected candidates will receive 40,000 Indian Rupees. Interested candidates should be able to provide all the necessary documents as and when it is required. One thing to note is that, if the candidate fails in any exam or is discontinuing their studies, the scholarship will also get terminated.

2. National Means Cum Merit Scholarship: This scholarship is an initiative by the Department of School Education & Literacy and the Ministry of Human resource Development. This scholarship is aimed at supporting young talents by creating them a platform to explore their future academic options. Financially challenged students who are in 8th or above are eligible to apply for this scholarship and a sum of 6000 Indian Rupees is paid annually for the selected candidates. One thing to note is the fact that students who have an annual family income of less than six lakhs can apply for this scholarship.

3. Swami Dayanand Education Foundation Merit-cum-Means-Scholarship: This popular scholarship is offered by The trust of the Swami Dayanand Education Foundation. This scholarship is aimed for 12th standard students who are interested in applying for the engineering, medical, pharmacy or IT field. One of the primary criteria to be selected for this scholarship is that the annual family revenue of the candidate should not exceed six lakhs. The selected candidate will be awarded tuition fee which amounts to 50,000 Indian Rupees annually.

4. Merck India Charitable Trust (MICT) Scholarship Program: This scholarship is offered by Merck India Charitable Trust to support the matric passed students who are financially challenged and aspires to move forward. The scholarship is for students to do their 11th and 12th. Candidates who passed 10th with 80 percent or above marks are eligible to apply for this scholarship. Students who wish to apply for this scholarship should also know that only those whose family income is below 20,000 can apply for this scholarship.

5. Baba Gurbachan Singh Scholarship Program: This scholarship scheme is aimed at supporting those students who are aiming to pursue diploma or any other technical courses. Candidates whose household income is less than five lakhs annually are eligible for this scholarship. Selected candidates will receive 100 percent of their tuition fee as the scholarship and that is an attractive prospect of this particular scholarship.

These five are some of the best scholarship options for unprivileged students in India and all these makes a significant contribution in helping the students reach for greater heights.