Mahatma Gandhi says if you want to reach real peace in this world you should start educating children. Through education, the quality of life is enhanced and the development path broadens. Educating the youth means laying a strong foundation for the future of the country. CM Naveen Patnaik of Odisha initiated the Odisha Banishree Scholarship 2024 with the main motive of educating the youth with disabilities. Under this scheme, students with special needs are getting scholarships so that they can get a quality of life by educating themselves. In this article, we will make you aware of this scheme in detail. This article covers objectives, benefits, scholarship amount, etc about this scheme.
About Odisha Banishree Scholarship
This scheme is the initiative of the Odisha Government for specially-abled children to provide them with quality education. It is an integrated scholarship scheme to help children with special needs pursue a normal life. BANISHREE- A Scheme of Scholarship for Students with Special Needs came into existence on 01.04.2008. Students with special needs have to face difficulties in getting an education because of a lack of finances and the availability of special schools. Odisha Banishree Scholarship is helping students to come in for professional courses which will help them to earn a living and become useful citizens of society.
Also Read: Odisha Scholarship
Objectives of the Odisha Banishree Scholarship
The basic idea of the government behind this scheme is to provide help and assistance to specially-abled children so that they can become useful members of society and can earn a living. When specially-abled children are getting scholarships for professional courses as well as vocational training it will help them to become something in the future and they can become financially independent. This scheme will encourage disabled children and will help them to gain confidence and live on par with the other citizens of society. Odisha Banishree Scholarship will ensure that the disabled student does not become a liability for the country rather than prove to be an asset for the development in betterment of society.
Brief Description of Banishree Scholarship
| Name of the Scheme | To assist and encourage specially-abled students through scholarship |
| State | Odisha |
| Beneficiaries | Specially abled children of Odisha |
| Objective | To provide assistance and encourage specially-abled students through scholarship |
| Came into existence | 01.04.2008 |
Rate of Scholarship
Under this scheme, two types of scholarships are being provided to the candidates. The first one is inside the state and the second one is outside the state. A brief description of the scholarship is given below in the table.
INSIDE THE STATE
| Categories | Amount of scholarship(per month) |
| Primary (standard 1st to 5th) | Rs.100 |
| Middle and High school (Standard 6th to 8th and 9th to 11th)(Not covered by the Government of India scholarship) | Rs.140 |
| College (+ 2 and + 3)(Not covered by the Government of India scholarship) | Rs.160 |
| College (Post Graduation)(Not covered by the Government of India Scholarship) | Rs.190 |
| Technical and Vocational Training(Not covered by the Government of India scholarship) | Rs.190 |
OUTSIDE THE STATE
| Categories | Amount of Scholarship(per month) |
| vocational course not available in the State(not covered by the Government of India scholarship) | Rs.250 |
| for visually challenged candidates in middle and high school classes | Rs.150 |
| for orthopedically handicapped students | Rs.200 |
| for orthopaedically handicapped students | Rs.100 |
Benefits Of The Banishree Scholarship
This scheme offers the following benefits to its applicants.
- Disabled children can get a quality education with the help of the scheme.
- The children who have to skip their education because of financial problems could not pursue their education and could excel in different fields.
- Children are assisted in different professional courses so that they can earn their living and are not dependent on anyone else.
Mode of Allocation Under Odisha Banishree Scholarship
The allocation process of the scheme is as follows.
- District Social Welfare Officer is responsible for printing the application forms of the scheme and supplying it to the concerned Sub- collectors/ Block Development Officers(BDO) /heads of schools/ colleges/ educational institutions in advance so that there will not be any shortage of the application form to its applicants.
- Now interested students who want to register for the scholarship can collect the forms from the concerned authorities. After filling all the required information in the form and attaching all the important documents the candidate has to submit the form again to the concerned authorities immediately after taking admission.
Also Read: National Scholarship Scheme
Sanction Process of Odisha Banishree Scholarship
The different sanction authorities of this scheme are described below.
- For institutions up to the High School standard in rural areas the concerned Block Development officer is the sanctioning authority. And in case of NAC areas as well as urban areas Sub- the collector is authorized to sanction the scholarship.
- Now the concerned authorities will have to check on all the details which are filled by the candidates on the application form and approve the form if all the required details are correct.
Disbursement Process under Odisha Banishree Scholarship
The disbursement process or the distribution of scholarships to the candidate takes place in the following way.
- First of all the concerned authorities are the BDO in rural areas and the Sub-collector in urban areas will verify all the details entered in the application form and will deposit the sanctioned amount of the scholarship in the bank account of the students in two installments.
- When the amount is transferred to the bank account then the BDO or the sub-collector will publish utilization certificates to the District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO). Now the DSWO will submit the certificates to the government.
- The scholarship paid under this scheme will be right from the month of applicants’ admission to the end of the academic session.
Eligibility Criteria Under Banishree Scholarship
Given below is the eligibility criteria for the students to avail the scholarship.
- First of all the student should be a bonafide resident of Odisha.
- The applicant must be a regular student of an Educational Institution.
- The total annual income of the family of the student must not exceed Rs. 60,000 per annum.
- The applicant should not be receiving any other scholarship from the State government or from the central government under any other scheme.
- The student will get a scholarship only when he enrolls and attends classes regularly.
Important Documents
An applicant must have the following documents before enrolling in the scholarship scheme.
- Disability Certificate issued by the Medical Board.
- Income Certificate issued by the revenue officer.
- Marksheet of the last examination passed by the applicant.
- if an applicant is 18 years old or above then a bank account with zero balance should be opened.
- if the applicant is below 18 years then the account details of the parents or the guardian should be given.
Offline Application Procedure Under Odisha Banishree scholarship
- An applicant needs to collect the application form from the concerned authority that has been described above.
- After filling in all the required details that have been asked in the application form such as name, address, category, nature of scholarship, etc
- After attaching all the required documents, submit the form to the BDO or the sub-collector
- Through this, you are registered for the scholarship.
Online Application Procedure Under Odisha Banishree Scholarship
To enroll for the scholarship online you need to follow the given steps.
- First of all, you need to visit the official website of the scheme launched by the government.
- There is a home page open in front of you with many different options.
- You have to choose a new application option.
- Here, fill in all the required details that have been asked in the form and click on submit button.
- With this, you are enrolled for the scholarship and have been registered under Odisha Banishree Scholarship.