New Delhi, March 12 (AHN) Targeting quota utilisation and scholarship continuity for students from Classes IX to XII were in focus as the Ministry of Education organised a workshop for State/UT and District level Officers implementing the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS), an official said on Thursday.​

Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), stressed the effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 at the grassroots level.​

Under the NMMSS, scholarships are awarded to meritorious students from economically weaker sections to prevent their dropouts at class VIII and encourage them to continue their education at the secondary stage.

​The interactive session with the State Nodal Officers of the scheme provided practical guidance and solutions to challenges faced at the grassroots level, said an official statement.​

One lakh fresh scholarships are awarded to selected students from class IX every year, and their continuation/renewal in classes X to XII for students studying in state government, government-aided and local body schools. The scholarship amount is Rs 12,000 per annum.​

Students whose parental income from all sources does not exceed Rs 3,50,000 per annum are eligible to avail of the scholarships.​

The students must have a minimum of 55 per cent marks or equivalent grade in the Class VII examination to appear in the selection test for the award of a scholarship (relaxable by 5 per cent for SC/ST students).​

A. Srija, Economic Advisor, DoSEL, Bhupal Nanda, Principal CCA, MoE , and Dr Pankaj K. P. Shreyaskar, Deputy Director General (Statistics), DoSEL, were among the officials who were part of the deliberations.​

Addressing the workshop participants on Tuesday, Shreyaskar, Deputy Director General (Statistics), highlighted the evolution of UDISE+ into a real-time, digital-first platform.​

Srija, Economic Advisor (DoSEL), underscored the need for timely verification by State-Level Officers on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) to ensure that students from economically weaker sections receive payments without delay.​

The initiative reflected DoSEL's commitment to ensuring timely, transparent, and student-centric implementation of central scholarship schemes across the region.​