National Scholarships for Talented Children from Rural Areas

ObjectiveThis scheme has been in operation since 1971-72. The objective of the scheme is to provide opportunities to school students from rural areas to pursue secondary stage education. The number of scholarships allocated is communicated to the State Governments / UT Administration every year. 

No. of Scholarships: 43000 per year

EligibilityA student studying in a community development block in class VI to VIII is eligible to compete for the scholarship. Category-wise distribution of 43,000 scholarships is as under.
1General Category4 Scholarships per Community Development Block (4x 5000)20,000
2Children of Landless Labourers2 scholarships per Community Development Block (2x 5000)10,000
3Scheduled Castes Children2 Scholarships per Community Development Block (2x 5000) and 1 additional scholarship per CDB having 20% or more SC population(1x 1500)11,500
4Scheduled Tribes Children3 Scholarships per Tribal Community Development Block (3x 500)1,500

Scholarships Rates

Rs. 30 to 100 per month. The scholarship is paid to the student through the institution from the month in which the admission is obtained in a school and is paid up to the last examination of the secondary stage education. In the case of renewal in the succeeding year, scholarship is paid from the month following that for which the scholarship was paid during the previous academic year. The scholarship is renewed subject to good academic progress. If the scholar does not make satisfactory progress, the scholarship is suspended.

Selection ProcedureEligible students are required to appear in a two stage examination.

First Stage: Examination is conducted by the State Governments / UT Administration. The number of selected students is generally ten times the number of scholarship to be offered.

Second Stage:
The final examination is conducted at the National level by NCERT. The local unit set up in the State Institutes of Education is in consultation with the national level unit in the NCERT, prepare the test papers and organise the examination throughout the States / UTs.

The test consists of two papers of 1 1/2 hours each for testing the innate abilities of students. It is common to the entire State / UT. The final selection is made with the Community Development Block as the Unit and the top students in each block are awarded scholarships.

For more details, please contact: District Inspector/Director of Education State / UT Government.

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