NATIONAL MEANS-CUM-MERIT (NMMS) SCHOLARSHIPS

CENTRAL SECTOR SCHEME NATIONAL MEANS-CUM-MERITSCHOLARSHIP SCHEME

      The Scheme:

1.1                                            Under this scheme, 100,000 scholarships are awarded 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 have fixed quota of scholarship as given at Annexure 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.

1.2                              These scholarships will be provided on yearly basis to the students studying as

regular students in class IX in a Government, Government-aided and local body schools which will be renewed for classes X, XI and XII. Thus the scholarships will be for a maximum period of four years.

1.3                                        The amount of scholarship will be Rs. 12000/- per annum @ Rs. 1000 per month.

1.4                                                                                              A separate examination shall be conducted by the State Governments/UT

Administrations for selection of students for the award of the National Means­cum-Merit Scholarships in the States/UTs.

2.0       Procedure for Selection of Awardee Students:

2.1                    Each State/UT will conduct its own test for selection of students for the award of

the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship. The State Level Examination may consist of the following two tests:

(i)           Mental Ability Test (MAT)

(ii)         Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

2.2         The students shall have minimum of 55 % marks or equivalent grade in Class VII

examination for appearing in selection test for award of scholarship (relax able by 5% for SC/ST students). The students should be studying as regular student in a Government, Government-aided and local body schools.

2........3                                                                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 figure etc.

2.4            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.

2..5                  Duration of the Test

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

3.0                Declaration of Results

3.1              For selecting the students, the following conditions may apply:

(i)                 The students must pass both the tests i.e. MAT and SAT with at least 40 % marks in aggregate taken together for these two tests. For the SC/ST students, this cut off will be 32% marks.

(ii)               At the time of selection for the award of scholarship the student must have scored at least 55% mark or equivalent grade in Class VIII examination. There will be 5 % relaxation for SC/ST students.

(iii)             The awardees should satisfy the eligibilities and the conditions mentioned in the scheme.

4.0 Disbursement of Scholarships

4.1 A student can avail only one Scholarship under any scheme.

4.2 The awardees will be required to open bank accounts preferably in SBI, or any public sector bank or any scheduled bank which has core banking facility.

4.3 The State Governments / UT Administrations shall normally send the proposals/ list of beneficiaries on-line on the Scholarship Portal. The Ministry will scrutinize the proposal and sanction funds from Annual Budget Provision for releasing them to SBI, the implementing bank for scheme for disbursal of scholarships to students directly into their bank accounts by electronic transfer.

4.4 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) in next higher classes.

4.5                       SBI will ensure that the scholarship is paid to awardees in one go (Rs. 12000)

immediately after getting the funds and the lists from the Ministry.

4.6 SBI will instruct some of its branches to coordinate with the State Education Department in connection with the payment of scholarships.

5. General Eligibility Conditions

  5.1                            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 a Government/Government-aided /Local Body 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.

5.2                                      No scholarship shall be available for studies abroad for any course.

5.3                                         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.

5.4                 In case any awardee leaves his/her course of study within one month of

registration/admission, no scholarship shall be paid to him/her.

5.5     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.

5.6                     The awardee must join the next class/desired course within 3 months of the declaration

of the result of the previous class/course.

5.7       Scholarship shall be deemed to be discontinued with any gap of one academic session in

studies at any time due to any reason.

5.8           Scholarship once discontinued on the basis of the rules of disbursement of scholarship

cannot be revived under any circumstances.

5.9                                                    All rules are subject to change from time to time, as and when required, which will be

binding on all awardees.

6.0               Eligibility and other conditions for starting and continuing of Scholarship at

Secondary and Higher Secondary Stage

6.1                     The awardees should get clear promotion from class VIII to Class IX for being eligible

for starting the scholarship.

6.2                    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.

6.3                                   No scholarship at this stage is payable for studying diploma/certificate level courses.

6.4       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 students)

6.5                      The awardees must obtain a minimum of 60 per cent marks in Class X (relaxable by 5%

for SC/ST students) examination or equivalent examination for continuation of the scholarship at higher secondary stage.

6.6              In case an institution/school 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/School.

7.0         The scheme will be further in operation beyond March 2017 from the financial year

2017-18 and the selection test for the awarded of scholarship will be conducted for Class IX students in November every year as a separate test by the State Governments/UT Administrations.

8.0                           A Technical Support Group (TSG) consisting of Consultants / support staff etc. may be

constituted for assisting in effective implementation and monitoring of the scheme.

9.0                  The scheme will be monitored in the Department at regular intervals with the

concerned Stake holders.

10.0                   The scheme may be reviewed after three years