Office of the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities

The scheme of the scholarship for the children with special needs has been formulated by the Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare, Govt. of West Bengal with the intention to extend financial assistance to the students with disabilities studying below class IX at the recognized educational institution of the state. The basic object is to help them to acquire academic skill at the Secondary stage as well as to enable them to go for higher studies.

For the purpose of this scholarship the term "Students with disabilities" shall include categories of the children with special needs viz, i) blindness, ii) low vision, iii) leprosy cured, iv) hearing impairment, v) locomotor disability, vi) mental retardation, vii) mental illness, viii) autism as defined in para-3 below.

1. "Government" means the Government of West Bengal in the Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare;
2. "Act" means the Persons with Disabilities ((Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995;
3. "Application" means an application for scholarship for children with special needs;
4. "Form" means a form as prescribed by Government in this behalf;
5. "Blind" means person who suffers from either of the following conditions, namely-
   1. total absence of sight, or
   2. visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 (snellen) in the better eye with correcting lenses, or
   3. limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of 20 degree or worse;
6. "Hearing Impairment" means loss of sixty decibels or more in the better ear in the Conversational range of frequencies;
7. "Locomotor Disability" means disability in bones, joints or muscles leading to substantial restriction of the movement of the limbs or any form of cerebral palsy;
8. "Leprosy Cured" means any person who has been cured of leprosy but is suffering from:-
   1. loss of sensation in hands or feet as well as loss of sensation and paresis in the eye and in the eye-lid but with no manifest deformity;
   2. manifest deformity and paresis but have sufficient mobility in their hands and feet to enable them to engage in normal economic activity;
   3. extreme physical deformity as well as advanced age which prevents him from undertaking any gainful occupation;
9. "Mental Illness" means any mental disorder other than mental retardation;
10. "Mental Retardation" means a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person which is specially characterized by sub-normality of intelligence;
11. "Persons with Low Vision" means a person with impairment of visual functioning even after treatment or standard refractive correction but who uses or is potentially capable of using vision for the planning or execution of a task with appropriate assistive device;
12. "Autism" means a condition of uneven skill development primarily affecting the Communication of social abilities of a person marked by repetitive and ritualistic behaviour;
13. "Disability Certificate" means a certificate towards disability of 40% and above issued by the Medical Board constituted by the Department;
14. "Educable and Trainable Children with Mental Retardation" means children having IQ 20-70.

1. Subject to the provision of sub-para (b) below a candidate applying for scholarship under these scheme:-
   1. shall be a citizen of India and be resident of West Bengal.
   2. shall be children with special needs as defined in para-3 above.
   3. Shall ordinarily be below 18 years in age which may be relaxed by the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal or any other authority which may be prescribed in special circumstances.
   4. Shall be studying as a regular student in an institution recognized by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education or Bodies of similar status or recognized under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
   5. Shall preferably be pre-school students of Anganwadi Centers.
   6. Must not be in receipt of any regular financial help either from the State Government or Government of India. Provided that he / she signs a declaration to forego such facilities availing if sanctioned by the Department of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare.
   7. students with Mental Retardation, Mental Illness and Autism should be educable and trainable.
2. the total income of both parents / guardian of the candidate must not exceed Rs.36,000/-(Rupees thirty six thousand) per annum.

1. in case of each individual student with all categories of disabilities as defined in para-3 above, scholarship should be fixed up at the rate of Rs.300/-per month;
2. in case of an educable child with special needs having severe locomotor disabilities and/or mental retardation and / or mental illness and/ or autism, who cannot travel without assistance of an escort, an additional allowance of Rs. 150/-per month may be sanctioned based on careful scrutiny of medical records and specific recommendations of the Head of the Institution as provided under sub-section (a) of section 30 of the said Act;
3. in case of students with blindness or low vision, an additional amount of Rs.100/-per month may be sanctioned as reader’s allowance based on certificate of the Head of the Institution that the student has continuously engaged a reader during the period in question as provided under section 31 of the said Act;
4. in case of each student with any type of disability, an additional amount of Rs. 500/-per annum may be sanctioned as a grant for the cost of teaching & learning materials as provided under sub-section © of section 30 of the said Act.

The scholarship will be usually tenable for the academic year of study and other Conditions remaining the same, will be renewable only on successful completion of the Period of study for which such scholarship was sanctioned.

1. Application should be made in the prescribed form (Appendix-A) through the Head of the Institution where the candidate has been admitted as a student.
2. Each application shall be accompanied by the following documents:
   1. Declaration in the prescribed form (Appendix-B).
   2. Admission certificate from the Head of the Institution / Anganwadi Centre in the prescribed form (Appendix-C).
   3. A recent photograph of the candidate attested by the Head of the Institution where the applicant has been admitted as a student.
   4. Certificate of Age- any of the following documents may be accepted as satisfactory evidence of age:
      1. Birth Certificate issued by the Registrar of Births of Municipality / Panchayet, as the case may be.
      2. An affidavit sworn in before the Notary Public or a First Class Magistrate by the Parent/guardian.
      3. A certificate from the Head of the Institution.
   5. Attested copies of mark sheets/ score sheets obtained at the previous annual examination(s) / evaluation, if any.
   6. Income Certificate- a certificate from the employer or an MP/MLA/Councilor/ Gram Panchayet Pradhan or a Gazetted Officer of the Central or the State Government indicating clearly the total monthly income of both the parents / guardian of the candidate in the prescribed form (Appendix-D).
   7. Medical Certificate issued by the Medical Board concerned.

Applications for scholarship will be initially received for processing and consideration by the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal for Kolkata Municipal Corporation area and Executive Officer for Panchayet area and Sub-Divisional Officer (Relief) for other than Panchayet area in the Districts.

Sanction will be given by the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal for KMC area and the District Magistrate & Additional Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities for the District and the scholarship money will be drawn and disbursed by the designated DDO of the concerned office.

The Scholarship will generally be available for current academic year from the month of admission. In case of renewal, the scholar must be promoted from preceding class or grade.

The Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal and the District Magistrate & Additional Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, will remit the scholarship in advance, in half-yearly installments, to the Head of the Institution who will disburse it to the candidate within the first ten days of each month.

The Head of the Institution shall forward a quarterly progress report in the prescribed form (Appendix-E) in respect of each recipient of scholarship in his/her charge to the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal / District Magistrate & Additional Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, as the case may be.
Provided that if the Head of the Institution is not satisfied with the conduct and general progress of the recipient, he/she will caution the scholar to the effect that the scholarship is likely to be cancelled unless improvement is shown. If such warnings remain unheeded and the Head of the Institution is satisfied that no progress is likely to be achieved, he / she will stop payment of scholarship money and refer the case with comments immediately to the disbursing authority for necessary direction.

No change of course of study or Institution will be allowed unless there are valid reasons.

(a) If, at any stage, it is detected that the candidate has furnished incorrect information or has suppressed material fact, the scholarship will be cancelled forthwith and the parent/guardian be asked to refund the amount already paid besides such other action as the authority may consider necessary.
(b) Action as enumerated above may also be initiated on receipt of information in terms of para-13 above.

The Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal may, extend the sanction of scholarship for such a period, as may be deemed expedient where such extension becomes necessary due to recipient’s failure in terminal examination on account of reasons beyond his/her control. Such extension shall be based on the report and advice of the Head of the Institution where the recipient is enrolled.

Government reserves the right of amendment to this scheme for award of scholarship prescribed hereto above at any time in the interest of the Children with Special Needs of the State.