NMMS SCHEME DETAILS

 National Means-cum-merit Scholarship Scheme

The Central Sector Scheme ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme’ was launched in 2008, after getting approval from CCEA, with the objective to award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue their education at secondary stage. One lakh fresh scholarships are awarded to selected students of class IX every year and their continuation / renewal in classes X to XII for study in State Government, Government-aided and Local body schools under the scheme. The amount of scholarship is Rs. 12000/- per annum from 1st April 2017 (earlier it was Rs. 6000/- per annum).

The Cabinet has approved continuation of the Scheme from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26 with total allocation of Rs.1827 crores.

Eligibility criteria:

Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than Rs. 3,50,000/- per annum are eligible to avail the scholarship. The students must 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 students). The students should be studying as regular student in a Government, Government-aided and local body school. Students of NVS, KVS and residential schools are not entitled for the scholarship. There is reservation as per State Government norms.

Selection of fresh Awardee Students:

Each State/UT conducts its own test for selection of students for the award of the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship. The test is conducted at stage of class-VIII. The students, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, must pass both the tests, i.e., Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) under NMMSS exam with at least 40 % marks in aggregate taken together for these two tests. For the SC/ST students, this cut off is 32% marks.

Selection of Renewal Awardees Students:

The awardees should get minimum of 60% marks in Class X for continuation of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST candidates) in next higher classes. For continuing the scholarship in class X and XII, the awardees should get clear promotion form class IX to class X and from class XI to class XII in the first attempt.

Disbursal of Scholarship:

The scheme is fully on boarded on National Scholarship Portal (NSP) from 2018-19. The Ministry sanctions 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 Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through Public Financial Management System (PFMS).

 

Central Sector Scheme-

"National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme" Revised Guidelines

1.0 The Scheme:

1.1 Under this scheme, it is proposed to award 100,000 scholarships to the gifted or meritorious students whose parental income is not more than 3,50,000/- per annum from all sources at the time of selection of awardees for scholarship. Each State /UT has fixed quota of scholarship for concerned age group of class VII and VIII. The scheme will 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 This scholarship will be provided on yearly basis to the students studying as regular students and entering in class IX in a Government, Government-aided, local body schools. Thus the scholarship will be for a maximum period of four years. The students studying in "Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas" are not entitled to get scholarship under this scheme. Similarly, those students studying in Residential Schools run by the Centre/ State Government Institutions, where facilities like boarding, lodging and education are provided and students studying in private schools are also not eligible for the scholarship under the scheme.

1.3 The amount of scholarship is 12000/- per annum @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 Means-cum-Merit Scholarships in the States/UTs.

1.5 The reimbursement cost for conducting the NMMSS (SAT and MAT) exam will be 100/-per student for the number of students appearing in the examination.

2.0 Procedure for Selection of Awardee Students:

2.1 Each State/UT will conduct its own test at stage of class VIII 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 conducted during class VIII for award of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students). The student should be studying as regular student in a Government, Government-aided and local body schools.

2.3Mental Ability Test shall 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 shall 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 shall apply:

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.

3.2 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.

3.3 scheme. The awardees should satisfy the eligibility and the conditions mentioned in the

4.0 Disbursement of Scholarships

4.1 A student can avail only one Scholarship under any Central Government Scholarship 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 eligible students will apply on National Scholarship Portal (NSP), which will be verified by the State Governments and UT Administrations and finally sent to Ministry for sanction of funds. The final list of students' verified at all concerned levels on National Scholarship Portal, will be considered for sanction of funds. The scholarships for those students will be discontinued if they would have not been able to renew their application on NSP within stipulated time period. The sanction of funds will be done 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 through Direct benefit Transfer (DBT).

4.4 The awardees should get minimum of 60% marks in Class X for continuation of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST candidates) in next higher classes. For continuing the scholarship in class X and XII, the awardees should get clear promotion form class IX to class X and from class XI to class XII in the first attempt.

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.

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 serious the In case student is not able to appear at the annual examination due to illness. certificate he/she through should the send of medical Head the Institution within three months of his/her 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 student 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 student during the year has been very good.

5.6 The student 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 if any gap of one academic session arises 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 continuation 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, as indicated above.

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

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.

6.5 The awardees must obtain a minimum of 60 per cent marks in Class X examination (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students) 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 in operation for 5 years beyond March 2021 and the selection test for the award of scholarship will be conducted for Class VIII 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. will be continued 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 stakeholders.

10.0 System of Super Checks/Physical verification to be strengthened by ensuring certain minimum percentage of application being physically verified on random basis generated by data analytics.

11.0 The Ministry/Department shall monitor the implementation of the scheme regularly. Adequate vigilance should be exercised to analyze the trends for timely identification and prevention of irregularities.

12.0 State Governments may be asked to undertake random physical verification/inspection to ensure effective implementation of the scheme, as per guidelines.

13.0 Ministry/Department and States/UTs to undertake super checks/third party audit of scholarships.

14.0 State Government should ensure that Institute/School Nodal officer (INO) is a permanent/regular staff of the Institute/School and that the Principal is made responsible for the effective supervision of INO activities.

15.0 Ministry/Department should ensure that adequate training is provided to SNO, SNO to be responsible for facilitating students in submitting application on NSP through mobile.

16.0 If any student's application is marked fake by District Nodal officer (DNO)/ State Nodal officer (SNO), application against the said Institute/School may be put on hold until re-verification is complete.

17.0. In case of fraud, regular follow-up, investigation and initiation of penal action to be ensured.

18.0 To carry out evaluation study on yearly basis to find out the gaps and challenges in the performance of the scheme due to which some of the objectives of the scheme remain unfulfilled. The recommendations of the study to be implemented and constraints at the ground level to be resolved timely to improve the performance of the scheme. It will also help in monitoring of the low-performance States.