Education ministry holds workshop on National Scholarship Portal for NMMSS scholarships

NEW DELHI : The Ministry of Education (MoE) held a national workshop with the state nodal officers of National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) today, September 20, 2022. State education officers of states and union-territories (UTs) attended the workshop which was presided over by LS Changsan, Additional Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL). The workshop was organized to expedite registration of fresh applications as well as renewals for 2022-23.

On the occasion, Changsan spoke about the importance of timely scholarship payments to children from economically weaker sections and the need for prompt verification of applications by state-level officers, as per an official statement.

Also Read | India spends only 0.1% of GDP on early childhood education: Report

Nodal Officer from NSP made a presentation regarding the registration and verification process on the NSP Portal which was followed by detailed interaction between the state government officials and officers from the Ministry of Education, DBT and NSP on the implementation modalities involved in the registration, verification and payment process of NMMSS scholarships online through the National Scholarship portal.

Under the ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme’ scholarships are awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at Class 8 and encourage them to continue their education at secondary stage. 1 lakh fresh scholarships are awarded to selected students from Class 9 every year and their continuation or renewal in Classes 10 to 12 for students studying in state government, government-aided and local body schools. The amount of scholarship is Rs 12000 per annum.

Also Read | Maharashtra HSC, SSC board exams 2023 tentative dates out; 10th, 12th timetable

Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than Rs 3,50,000 per annum are eligible to avail the scholarships. The students must have a minimum of 55% marks or equivalent grade in Class 7 exam for appearing in the selection test for award of scholarship (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students).

NMMSS scholarships are disbursed directly into the bank accounts of selected students by electronic transfer through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) following DBT mode. This is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme.