New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) The Union Ministry of Education has asked meritorious government school students coming from economically weaker families to apply for a Rs 12,000 annual scholarship under the National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) 2025-26 by September 30, an official said on Tuesday.

Till August 30, a total of 85,420 fresh and 1,72,027 renewal applications have been submitted by students from across the country, the official said, adding that the selected meritorious students can apply for the scholarship on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).

The scheme provides one lakh fresh scholarships every year for Class 9 students who clear the qualifying exam for the scholarship conducted by the state/UT governments, the official said in a statement.

The eligibility parameters for availing the scholarship include parental income not more than Rs 3.50 lakh per annum, a minimum of 55 per cent marks or equivalent grade in the Class 8 examination for appearing in the selection test for the award of the scholarship (relaxable by 5 per cent for SC/ST students).

The scholarship is continued through renewal mode from Classes 10 to 12 based on the student’s academic performance. The scheme is applicable only to students studying in state government, government-aided and local body schools, and the scholarship amount is Rs 12,000 per annum per student, said the official in a statement.

The selected meritorious students can apply for the scholarship on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).

The NSP portal is open for submission of applications by students with effect from June 2. In this project year 2025-26, the selected students are first required to do a one-time registration (OTR) on the NSP, after which they have to apply for the scholarship scheme that they have selected.

Through the ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme,’ implemented by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, scholarships are awarded to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to arrest their drop-out after the elementary level of Class 8 and encourage them to complete their school education up to the higher secondary level.

The NMMSS scholarships are disbursed directly into the bank accounts of selected students by electronic transfer through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) following the DBT mode.

–IANS

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