Centrally Sponsored National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme

Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India, offers scholarships for meritorious students Objective This scheme is proposed to award 1,00,000 scholarships to the gifted or meritorious students whose parental income is not more than Rs 1,50,000/- per annum from all sources. Each State /UT shall have fixed quota of scholarship which will be decided on the basis of enrolment of students in Class VII and VIII in the State/UT concerned and population of children of concerned age group of class VII and VIII. Coverage of the SchemeFor students in classes 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th.The scholarship is paid for a maximum period of four years. Eligibility An Awardee is eligible for the scholarship provided he/she: Takes up studies in approved courses Maintains good conduct as certified by the Head of the College/Institution and continues his/her studies as a regular student in Government/Local Body/Government aided school. Does not absent himself/herself without proper leave. Takes up studies on a whole time basis. Does not take up any job. No scholarship shall be available for studies abroad for any course. No claim for scholarship arrears will be entertained after the expiry of 12 months of the academic session for which one has applied for the claim. In case any awardee leaves his/her course of study within one month of registration/admission, no scholarship shall be paid to him/her. In case awardee is not able to appear at the annual examination due to serious illness, one should send the medical certificate through the Head of the Institution within three months of one's falling ill. The duration of illness should be clearly certified by a specialist, who is a Registered Medical Practitioner. The facility will be available to the awardee to continue the same course in which one is studying provided the principal or the head of the institution certifies that the overall performance of the awardee during the year is 50% or above. The awardee must join the next class/desired course within 3 months of the declaration of the result of the previous class/course. Scholarship shall be deemed to be discontinued with any gap of one academic session in studies at any time due to any reason. Scholarship once discontinued on the basis of the rules of disbursement of scholarship cannot be revived under any circumstances. All rules are subject to change from time to time, as and when required, which will be binding on all awardees. Continuing of Scholarship at Secondary and Higher Secondary Stage The awardees should get clear promotion from class VIII to Class IX for being eligible for starting the scholarship. The scholarship at the Secondary and higher Secondary stage or equivalent Classes IX to XII is payable for a maximum period of four years for studies in India only. No scholarship at this stage is payable for studying diploma/certificate level courses. For continuing the scholarship in class X and XII the awardees should get clear promotion from class IX to class X and from class XI to class XII in the first attempt with 55% marks (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST) The awardees must obtain a minimum of 60 per cent marks in Class X (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST) examination or equivalent examination for continuation of the scholarship at higher secondary stage. In case an institution does not conduct an examination at the end of Class IX and /or Class XI, the scholarship for the second year will be continued on the submission of a certificate to this effect from the Head of the Institution. Mode of Selection Each State/UT will conduct its own test for selection of students for the award of the Means-cum-Merit Scholarship. The State Level Examination may consist of the following two tests. Mental Ability Test (MAT) Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) Mental Ability Test may consist of 90 multiple-choice questions testing verbal and non-verbal meta-cognitive abilities like reasoning and critical thinking. The questions in the test may be on analogy, classification, numerical series, pattern perception, hidden figures etc. Scholastic Aptitude Test may consist of 90 multiple-choice questions covering subjects namely, science, social studies and mathematics as taught in classes VII and VIII. Duration of the Test: Each test will be of 90 minutes duration. Children with disability will be given extra time, as applicable. NCERT will provide a uniform set of guidelines to all States/UTs for carrying out the examination and promote evenness of evaluation. Declaration of ResultsFor selecting the students, the following conditions may apply. The students must pass both the tests i.e. MAT and SAT with at least 40% marks in each. For the reserved category this cut off will be 32% marks. The parental income of the students should not be more than Rs. 1.50 lakh per annum from all sources. At the time of selection for the award of scholarship the candidate must have scored at least 55% marks or equivalent grade in Class VIII examination. There will be 5 % relaxation for SC/ST. The awardees should satisfy the eligibilities and the conditions mentioned in the scheme. Scholarship AmountThe amount of scholarship is proposed to be Rs.6000/- per annum @ Rs. 500/- per month. These scholarships will be provided quarterly to the students studying as regular students in class IX in government, local body and government-aided schools. The scholarships will be paid from class IX till class XII for a maximum period of four years. Total Number of ScholarshipsFor nearly 1, 00,000 (one lakh) students each academic year. Application ProcedureScheme details advertised in News papers and for selecting the students for this scheme, the first level examination already conducted by the States/UTs for the NCERT's, NTS Scheme may be utilized with the following conditions. Registration of students for Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme may be made separately from the registration of students made for NTS Scheme. The students shall have minimum of 55% marks or equivalent grade in Class VII examination for appearing in selection test for award of scholarship (Relaxable by 5% for SC/ST). The students should be studying as regular student in government, local body and government-aided schools. Parental income of the students should not be more than Rupees One lakh Fifty Thousand per annum from all sources. The examination will be conducted along with the first stage examination of NTS for class VIII students For more details, please click here:mhrd.gov.in/national_merit_scheme