The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, on Sunday organized an Awareness Session on the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) for District Nodal Officers, school heads, and teachers under the chairmanship of A. Srija, Economic Advisor, DoSEL. The session aimed to enhance awareness about the scheme and streamline processes for timely scholarship disbursement to deserving students.
The session covered districts including Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, and Shamli. Addressing participants, Srija emphasized that NMMSS is a merit-based scholarship designed to help students from economically weaker sections complete secondary education from Class IX to XII. Uttar Pradesh has the highest allocation of 15,000 fresh scholarships annually, she noted, urging officials to ensure timely verification of student applications on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).
The scheme, onboarded on the NSP since 2018-19, requires selected students to register on the portal after Class VIII using their Aadhaar credentials. A One-Time Registration (OTR) system introduced in 2024-25 ensures duplication of benefits is avoided. Officials demonstrated the step-by-step application process, highlighting common errors and verification protocols. The verification occurs at two levels—school and district—before final approval.
Under NMMSS, fresh scholarships are awarded at Class IX, while renewals for Classes X, XI, and XII depend on achieving 60% marks and promotion to the next class. The scholarship is available exclusively for students in government and government-aided schools, excluding KVS, NVS, and other residential institutions. The annual scholarship amount of ₹12,000 is transferred via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into the Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts of students or their parents.
The workshop also included orientation on Vidyanjali – the School Volunteer Initiative, School Challenge on MyGov to spread awareness about tobacco use, and Universal Design of Learning (UDL) textbooks being developed by NCERT.
The session witnessed participation of 210 officials from the Meerut Mandal, including senior officers from DoSEL – Sreekala P Venugopal, Director; Hema Malini, Under Secretary; Ram Singh, Deputy Director; and Prof. Bharti Kaushik, CIET, NCERT.