The Education Ministry is inviting applications for the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme. The deadline for application submission for 2024-25 is August 31.
The One-Time Registration (OTR) application, which includes a redesigned homepage, a new mobile app, and an updated web version, has been launched and is now accessible to the public. This allows students to register online for OTR on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP).
Students who applied on the NSP for the academic year 2023-24 have been assigned an OTR/Reference number through the portal and notified via SMS. The instructions for students who have applied on the NSP in the academic year 2023-24 are as follows:
Instructions for students with OTR number:
In the academic year 2023-24, the NSP introduced an optional face-authentication service. Students who completed the face-authentication process have been assigned an OTR number, which has been sent to them via SMS on their registered mobile numbers. These students can directly apply for scholarships on the NSP portal. If a student has not received their OTR number via SMS, they can retrieve it using the “Know your OTR” feature on the NSP.
Instructions for students with reference number:
Students who completed the OTP-based eKYC but did not complete face-authentication in the academic year 2023-24 have been assigned a reference number. To obtain their OTR number, they must complete the face-authentication process on the NSP.
Steps To Generate the OTR Number:
- Download and install Aadhaar Face RD services on an Android device. (link)
- Download and install the NSP OTR App from the Google Play Store. (link)
- Open the mobile app and select the “eKYC with FaceAuth” option highlighted in red.
Verification for NMMSS on the NSP portal involves two levels:
- Level-1 verification by the Institute Nodal Officer (INO), with a deadline of September 15.
- Level-2 verification by the District Nodal Officer (DNO), with a deadline of September 30.
The Central Sector ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme’ (NMMSS) aims to award scholarships to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to prevent dropouts at Class 8 and encourage them to continue their education at the secondary level. Each year, one lakh new scholarships are awarded to selected Class 9 students and renewed for Classes 10 to 12 for study in State Government, Government-aided, and local body schools. The NMMSS scheme is available on the National Scholarship Portal.