Eligibility for Abdul Kalam Scholarship

Abdul Kalam Scholarship is basically for the students who are unable to continue their higher studies due to lack of funds. This scholarship is meant to help the poor to continue their education and complete their higher studies. It bears resemblance to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scholarship which was founded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Only the students who are pursuing under-graduation, post-graduation or doctorate from Jamia Milia Islamia University are eligible for Abdul Kalam Scholarship. It is a financial assistance to the students with poor background to complete their higher studies. The students can get financial assistance from the government at many steps to complete their education. This particular scholarship is only for the students of Jamia Milia Islamia University but there are several such scholarships for which the students can apply according to the criteria, prove their eligibility for the scholarship and get financial assistance for their further studies. Abdul Kalam Scholarship gives preference to female students and fifty percent of the total scholarships are reserved for the fairer sex. The application for applying to this scholarship is available in Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University website. The rules and criteria for this scholarship are quite tough and fast and only fifty students are eligible of getting this scholarship every year.

There are various forms of APJ Abdul Kalam scholarships that are given to the students. All of them have different reward, different eligibility criteria and application period. The names of the scholarships are listed below:

1. APJ Abdul Kalam Scholarship, Kerala
2. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Scholarships
3. Dr. Abdul Kalam International Undergraduate Scholarships
4. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Summer Training Program
5. Abdul Kalam Technology Innovation National Fellowship
6. President APJ Abdul Kalam Postgraduate Fellowship
7. Fulbright Kalam Climate Fellowship
8. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Awards

The eligibility criteria for the students to apply for this scholarship are quite tough and the students must ensure to complete or fulfill the criteria well before applying for the scholarship. The criterions are listed below:

1. The scholarship is for the development of Indian citizens only so the students applying for the scholarship have to be necessarily Indian.
2. Only under-graduate, post-graduate or doctorate completing students from Jamia Milia Islamia can apply. No other university students are eligible for this scholarship.
3. The students applying for Abdul Kalam Scholarship must be having a score of seventy five percent in their respective course. Any student below seventy five percent of marks is not eligible to apply for this scholarship.
4. The students applying for this scholarship must have completed their 12^th and under graduation before applying for this scholarship.
5. As the scholarship is a helping aid to the financially weaker class of people. The family income of the student applying for Abdul Kalam Scholarship has to be less than or equal to rupees two lakhs per annum. If the family income of the student is even slightly greater than this he is not eligible for the above mentioned scholarship.
6. The Abdul Kalam Scholarship has a reservation of fifty percent for the female students who have fulfilled all of the above mentioned eligibility criteria.

 Apart from these criteria there are a number of documents that need to be attached to the application and which also might be needed at the time of applying:

1. School leaving certificate is required to determine the age of the student. 
2. University identity card is required as a proof that the student is of Jamia Milia Islamia University only.
3. Parent?s income certificate to confirm that the income is less than or equal to two lakhs.
4. The students have to write a 300 words justification message explaining why he or she should be getting the scholarship.
5. The application of scholarship has to be forwarded by the Head of the department/ Dean of faculty/ Director of Centre.
6. The mark sheet of the last given exam by the student along with other mark sheets.
7. The bank account details of the students.

The selection process for Abdul Kalam scholarship is quite rigorous and the students must be very conscious and careful while applying for the scholarship otherwise their application may get rejected.