MHRD Centrally Sponsored National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme

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MHRD National Means Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme

Areas of Study :
General
Level :
High School to Plus Two
Scholarship Funded by :
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Provided to :
Meritorious students of economically weaker sections

Launched in May 2008, the objective of the Centrally Sponsored 'National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)' is to award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage. 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. The scheme would provide reservation to different categories of students as per the State/ UT norms; as different States/UTs have their own norms of reservation. However, the total number of scholarships to a particular State UT may be restricted to the allocation made by the Central Government. The scheme will be critically reviewed after two years.

Under this scheme scholarship will be awarded to 1,00,000 students (at National level) selected at the end of class VIII. 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 would continue till Class XII for a maximum period of four years.

Scholarship Amount :
The amount of scholarship is proposed to be Rs.6000/- per annum @ Rs. 500/- per month. Scholarships are disbursed by the State Bank of India directly into the accounts of students on quarterly basis.

Eligibility:

Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than Rs. 1,50,000/- are eligible to avail the scholarships. An Awardee is eligible for the scholarship provided he/she:

(i) takes up studies in approved courses.
(ii) 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.
(iii) does not absent himself/herself without proper leave.
(iv) takes up studies on a whole time basis.
(v) does not take up any job.

For continuing the Scholarship at Secondary and Higher Secondary Stage :
i) The awardees should get clear promotion from class VIII to Class IX for being eligible for starting the scholarship.
ii) 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.
iii) No scholarship at this stage is payable for studying diploma/certificate level courses.
iv) 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)
v) 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.
vi) 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.

Application & Selection

Application forms can be collected from the office of Director, State Council of Educational Research and Training of each State /UT or can be downloaded from the websites of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT). The completed application form duly signed by Principal of the school should be submitted to the State Liaison Officer before the last date.

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 each of 90 minutes duration. Children with disability will be given extra time, as applicable.

Mental Ability Test (MAT) - 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 (SAT) - 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.

NCERT will provide a uniform set of guidelines to all State/UTs for carrying out the examination and promote evenness of evaluation.

For 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.

Disbursement of Scholarships

A student can avail only one Scholarship under any scheme.
The awardees will be asked to open Joint account with parents in State Bank of India, which has core banking facility;
SBI will ensure that their branches and its associates SBI Indore, Patiala, Mysore, Hyderabad, Travancore, Saurashtra, Bikaner and Jaipur will open account of such awardees without any initial deposit/minimum deposit charges and will issue ATM-cum- Debit Cards;
The state will identify the awardees and hand over the list of beneficiaries to SBI for payment of scholarship;
The State Government / UT Administration will scrutinize the claim bills for payment of scholarship and subsequently their continuance and submit the list of eligible awardees to SBI for payment of scholarship. The awardees should get minimum of 55% marks in Class IX and XI and 60% in Class X for continuance of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST candidates);
SBI will ensure that the scholarship is paid to awardees on quarterly basis (Rs. 1500/- each quarter) after getting the list from each state;
SBI will instruct some of its branches to coordinate with the State Education Department for payment of scholarship;
Wherever SBI does not have its branches, the candidates will be asked to open their account in the public sector banks, which have Electronic Clearing System (ECS) facility. The SBI and its associates will transfer the scholarship on quarterly basis in the account of awardees.

Useful Contact

Ministry of Human Resource Development
Department of Higher Education & Department of School Education and Literacy
Shastri Bhawan, (2) Jeevan Deep Building, Parliament Street & (3) West Block No.1, R.K. Puram, New Delhi – 110001
Phone : 011- 23383936 (9 Lines)
Website: mhrd.gov.in/nmms

Tags

mhrd scholarship , school level scholarship

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