National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme to continue till 2025-26; eligibility criteria revised
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has approved the continuation of the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) until 2025-26 with minor changes to the eligibility criteria such as raising the income ceiling from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh per years, officials said Tuesday.
The aim of the scheme is to award scholarships to deserving students of the economically weaker sections to discourage them from dropping out in grade 8 and encourage them to continue their education in secondary.
“One lakh new scholarships of Rs 12,000 per year (Rs 1,000 per month) per student will be awarded every year to selected students of class 9 and their continuation and renewal in classes 10 to 12 for study in the state government, government aided and local agency schools under the scheme,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Students are selected for the scholarship award through an examination administered by the state governments and the UT. The scheme is on board the National Scholarship Portal (NSP). Scholarships are paid directly into students’ bank accounts by electronic transfer through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) under the DBT mode. Under the scheme, 100 percent of the funds will be provided by the Center,” it said.
This is an ongoing scheme and since its launch in 2008-09, 22.06 lakh scholarships are sanctioned until 2020-21 with an expense of Rs 1,783.03 crore.
“It is proposed to pay out scholarships to 14.76 lakh students with the financial outlay of Rs 1827 crore approved for the scheme,” it said.
