NEW DELHI, October 2 — The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, on Friday released state-wise quota allocations and finalized merit selection rosters for the centrally sponsored National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) for the academic session 2026–27 via the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).
According to the official circular, the flagship social entitlement scheme awards 100,000 fresh scholarships annually to academically meritorious students from economically weaker sections. Designed specifically to arrest secondary school dropout rates following Class 8, the scheme grants a financial stipend of ₹12,000 per annum (₹1,000 per month) covering Classes 9 through 12 across government, local body, and government-aided schools, disbursed directly to students' Aadhaar-seeded accounts via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
Eligibility mandates that parental annual income from all sources cannot exceed ₹3,50,000. Candidates must have secured a minimum of 55 percent marks (50 percent for SC/ST categories) in the Class 7 annual examination and passed the state-conducted Mental Ability Test (MAT) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
The policy design of the NMMSS (instituted in 2008), the governance of the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) under the Digital India umbrella, policy interventions mitigating secondary school attrition rates, the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, and targeted inclusion for Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) under NEP 2020 are vital topics across UPSC Civil Services (GS-II: Social Welfare, Education & Public Policy) and State Education Service examinations.