The Department of School Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Education, India organised a one-day national workshop in New Delhi on March 10, 2026, to review the implementation of the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS). The workshop was chaired by Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, DoSEL.
The discussions focused on improving implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 at the grassroots level. Officials reviewed the performance of states and union territories, particularly the utilisation of scholarship quotas and continuity of benefits for students from Class IX to XII.
During the workshop, A. Srija, Economic Advisor, highlighted the importance of timely verification on the National Scholarship Portal to ensure scholarships reach eligible students without delay. Pankaj K. P. Shreyaskar, Deputy Director General (Statistics), also spoke about the transformation of UDISE+ into a real-time digital platform for education data management.
The workshop included technical sessions on Direct Benefit Transfer through Public Financial Management System, Aadhaar seeding of beneficiary bank accounts by National Payments Corporation of India, and best practices in scheme implementation shared by states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
Under the NMMSS scheme, one lakh scholarships are awarded annually to meritorious students from economically weaker sections studying in government, government-aided, and local body schools. Each selected student receives ₹12,000 per year from Class IX to XII to help prevent dropouts after Class VIII and encourage continuation of secondary education.
Students whose parental income does not exceed ₹3.5 lakh per year are eligible to apply, provided they secure at least 55 percent marks in Class VII (relaxable by 5 percent for SC/ST students).
The ministry stated that the workshop aimed to ensure timely, transparent, and student-centric implementation of the scholarship scheme across the country.
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