Students from Pakistan's religious minority communities who are studying at government institutions have a scholarship opportunity worth acting on this month. The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony opened its Pakistan Minorities' Welfare Fund Scholarship for the 2026-27 financial year in September, and the ministry has since posted an official notice extending the online application window — so if you assumed you'd missed it, it's worth double-checking.

What This Scholarship Covers

The Minorities' Welfare Fund Scholarship provides financial support to students from recognized minority communities — including Hindu, Sikh, Christian, and Buddhist students, among others — who are enrolled at government institutions. The support spans a wide range of education levels, from primary school all the way through professional and university-level degrees, making it one of the more comprehensive minority student aid programs run by the federal government.

Who Is Eligible

Based on the ministry's own published criteria for this cycle, you qualify only if:

• You are a regular, full-time student at a government (public-sector) institution. Students enrolled at private institutions are not eligible under this scheme.
• You scored at least 50% marks in your most recent annual examination. If your institution uses a GPA system, you'll need an official evaluation/equivalence sheet from your institution instead of a traditional percentage.
• Your parents' or guardian's combined monthly income does not exceed Rs. 80,000.
• You are not currently receiving any other scholarship, stipend, or financial assistance.

The ministry has also specifically excluded students enrolled in diploma programs, distance-learning courses, MPhil, or LLB programs from this particular cycle, so check carefully whether your program of study qualifies before you start gathering documents.

How to Apply — Two Steps, Not One

A detail that trips a lot of applicants up: submitting the online form is only step one. Here's the full process:

1. Complete the online application at mora.gov.pk. The ministry is explicit that applications not submitted online will not be considered at all, so this step comes first regardless of what documents you have ready.
2. Print the computer-generated form that the system produces once you submit online.
3. Mail the printed form, along with your supporting documents, to the ministry within five days of your online submission. Only applications where the online form was submitted before the printed documents were dispatched are accepted — so don't mail your documents before you've completed the online step.

The mailing address is: Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, 8th Floor, Green Trust Tower, Blue Area, Islamabad.

Documents You'll Need

Have these ready before you start, since incomplete applications are disqualified:

• The printed online application form, showing its computer-generated tracking number
• An attested copy of your latest marksheet, DMC, or progress report
• If you're on a semester system, attested result cards for your last two semesters
• A GPA evaluation/equivalence sheet, if your institution grades by GPA rather than percentage
• An original income certificate for your father or guardian
• An attested copy of your CNIC or NADRA B-Form
• A bank account maintenance certificate, issued on the bank's own official letterhead

Important: The Deadline Has Been Extended — But an Exact New Date Isn't Public Yet

The original announcement in September set a 30-day online application window from the date of publication, followed by a 5-day window to mail the printed form. Going by that original timeline, the window should already have closed by early-to-mid October.

However, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony posted an official notice on its website on October 8, 2026, titled "Extension of Online Applications for grant of Scholarships to the student of minorities communities 2026-2027" — confirming that the deadline has been pushed back. The notice itself is published as a scanned document on the ministry's site, and the exact new closing date isn't readable from the ministry's webpage text at the time of writing.

Because an extension is now officially confirmed but the precise new deadline isn't verifiable from a public, readable source, the safest move is: don't assume you've missed it. Visit mora.gov.pk directly, or call the ministry at (+92) 51 9207161, or email info@mora.gov.pk to confirm the new closing date before you either give up or wait too long to apply.

Bottom Line

If you're a minority student enrolled at a government institution and you meet the income and academic requirements, don't skip this scholarship just because the original September timeline looks like it's passed. An official extension has been confirmed — so gather your documents, apply online at mora.gov.pk, and follow up with the ministry directly to lock in the exact new deadline for your submission.