(THE GIST OF PIB) National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS)

(OCTO BER-2025)

National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS)

The State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) recently released the application forms for the National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS) for various states.

About National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMS):

It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in May, 2008.
Objective: Award scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their dropout at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at the secondary stage.
NMMSS is on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP), a one-stop platform for scholarship schemes given to students.

Benefits:

One lakh fresh scholarships are awarded by the Ministry of Education to selected students every year for study in classes from IX to XII in recognized Government, Government-aided, and local body schools.
There is a quota of scholarships for different states/UTs.
The amount of scholarship is 12000/- per annum (Rs. 1000/- per month) per student.
These scholarships are disbursed directly into the bank accounts of selected students by electronic transfer.

Eligibility Criteria:

Students whose parental income from all sources is not more than Rs. 350,000/- per annum.
The students must have a minimum of 55% marks or an equivalent grade in the Class VII examination (relaxable by 5% for SC/ST students).
The students should be studying as regular students in a Government, Government-aided and local body school.
The students studying in the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), and residential schools are not eligible for the scholarships under the NMMSS.
There is reservation as per State Government norms.
Selection Test: Each State and UT conducts its own test to select students for awarding the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship. The test is conducted at the stage of class VIII.