Press Information Bureau

Online submission/registration of applications on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) for scholarships for the project year 2023-24 commenced on 01st October 2023. Under the ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme’, implemented by the Ministry of Education for school students of Class IX to Class XII, scholarships are awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to reduce their dropout at Class VIII and encourage them to continue their education at the secondary stage. One lakh fresh scholarships are awarded to selected students from Class IX each year and upon their continuation/renewal in Classes X to XII for students studying in State Government, Government-aided, and local body schools. The amount of the scholarship is ₹12000 per annum.

The National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) is boarded on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) - a one-stop platform for scholarship schemes given to students. NMMSS scholarships are disbursed directly into the bank accounts of selected students by electronic transfer through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) following DBT mode. This is a Central Sector Scheme.

Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than ₹3,50,000 per annum are eligible to avail of the scholarships. The students must have a minimum of 55% marks or equivalent grade in the Class VII examination to appear in the selection test for the award of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students).

The scholarship applications undergo two levels of verification on the National Scholarship Portal. The first is at the Institution/School level by the Institute Nodal Officer (INO) and at second by the District Nodal Officer (DNO).

For the current year, timelines for registration of fresh applications, renewal applications and for level-I and Level-II verification on NSP are as follows:

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SS/AK