The National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of Scheduled Tribe (ST) students is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to grant fellowship and scholarship opportunities to meritorious ST students. With this scheme, the government is aiming to provide financial assistance to students to enable them to pursue higher education in India.
This wonderful scheme comes with 2 (two) sub-schemes, one is to provide fellowship opportunities to students for pursuing M.Phil or Ph.D. after completion of a Master’s degree in India. And the second scheme is a National Scholarship Scheme, for pursuing Graduate/ Post Graduate courses in selected top-class Government and Non-Government Institutes in professional fields such as Management, Medicine, Engineering, Information Technology, Law, etc. In this article, we will be covering the fellowship part and will know everything about it.
Also read: CUET PG 2023: What changes can we expect this year? Get complete info
Eligibility Criteria for fellowship
- Income Criteria: There are no specific income criteria for eligibility in respect of this Fellowship for Higher Education of ST students.
- Age Limit: The maximum age of the candidate can be 36 years, as of the first day of July of the relevant year of the award of the fellowship.
- The applicant must have completed their Post-Graduation with a minimum of 55% marks at the final examination/ grading at the PG level.
- The candidate should get admission to a university, which is covered under the following categories:
- Universities/Institutes/Colleges included under section 2(f)/12(B) or 2(f) and 12(B) of the UGC Act.
- Deemed to be Universities included under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, and eligible to receive grant-in-aid from UGC.
- Universities/ Institutes/ Colleges receiving grants by Central/ State Government
- Institutes of National Importance, as notified by the Ministry of Higher Education, Government of India.
- The duration of the course, that a candidate has opted for should be as below:
| Course | Duration |
|---|---|
| M.Phil | 2 years or date of submission of the dissertation, whichever is earlier |
| M.Phil + Ph.D | 2+3 =5 years or date of submission of the dissertation, whichever is earlier |
| Ph.D | 5 years or date of submission of the dissertation, whichever is earlier |
Number of fellowships to be granted
Under the National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students, Ministry will grant fresh fellowships to 750 candidates. Here is the category-wise breakdown for it:
| Priority | Category | Slots |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Divyangjan | 38 (5% of 750) |
| 2 | PVTG | 25 |
| 3 | Female [30% of 750] | 225 |
| 4 | ST Others | 462 |
Amount of Fellowship
| Course | Stream | Monthly Grant | Contingency Annually |
|---|---|---|---|
| M.Phil | Humanities & Social Sciences | Rs. 31,000/- | Rs. 10,000/- |
| M.Phil | Science/ Engineering Technology | Rs. 31,000/- | Rs. 12,000/- |
| Ph.D | Humanities & Social Sciences | Rs. 31000/- for the first two years and Rs. 35,000/- for the remaining 3 years | Rs. 20,500/- |
| Ph.D | Science/ Engineering Technology | Rs. 31000/- for the first two years and Rs. 35000/- for the remaining 3 years | Rs. 25,000/- |
- HRA for all the courses (monthly): Equal to UGC rates [8% or 16% or 24% based on city]
- Escort Allowance for Divyanjan (monthly): Rs. 2,000/- (at par with UGC rates)
Selection Process
A merit list for the National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students will be prepared for eligible research scholars based on the marks obtained by them in the post-graduation examination and as per selection criteria adopted by the selection committee. Allotment of slots in respect of various streams will be based on the methodology adopted by the committee.
The list of research scholars provisionally selected for the award of fellowship will be published on the website of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. And the decision of the Ministry for awarding the Fellowship shall be final.
Documents required
The applicant for the National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students will be required to upload the following documents on the portal for registration:
- Latest colored passport-size photograph
- ST/ PVTG certificate issued by the competent authority
- 10th/ Matriculation/ equivalent certificate in support of date of birth
- Divyangjan certificate issued by the competent authority
- Post-Graduation mark sheet [Aggregate marks in %]/ equivalent % marks in case of CGPA (Conversion formula from CGPA to percentage which was issued by Institute/ University to be produced.)
- Admission/Joining certificate of M.Phil/Ph.D / Integrated M.Phil+Ph.D from the University concerned.
- Offer of admission in respect of students admitted to IITs/ AIIMS/ IIMs/ IISERs.
Important dates
Candidates satisfying the eligibility criteria for National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students may visit the National Scholarship Portal and submit their application form on or before the last date.
| Events | Dates |
|---|---|
| Closing of the online application portal | 17th January 2023 |
| Last date for verification of Defective Applications | 31st January 2023 |
| Last date for Institute level verification | 31st January 2023 |
Note
- The provisionally selected research scholar for the National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST students is required to take admission to the university/ Institute concerned and submit the joining report to the Ministry within 1 month from the date of issue of the provisional award letter.
- The tenure of the scholarship would be 2 years for M.Phil students and 5 years for M.Phil + Ph.D. or Ph.D. students.
- Research scholars are required to register themselves on the online fellowship portal as well as on Digi Locker since it is mandatory to upload documents through Digi Locker, for which Aadhaar is mandatory as notified by the Ministry.
- All interested candidates can find more details about the National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students by going through the following documents:
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