Lok Sabha Question No. 1716 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-02
Subject: National Means cum Merit Scholarships (NMMS)
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Kotagiri Sridhar, Adala Prabhakara Reddy, Chandra Sekhar Bellana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1716 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.03.2020

National Means cum Merit Scholarships (NMMS)

1716.  SHRI SRIDHAR KOTAGIRI: SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR BELLANA:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the current status of the NMMS Scheme all over the country including Andhra Pradesh;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  revised  the  rate  of  scholarship  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof along with the reasons therefor; and
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  any  details  regarding  number  of  students  who  discontinued education after availing the scholarship?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) The Central Sector Scheme 'National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme' (NMMSS) is being implemented since 2008 with the objective to award scholarships to meritorious students of  economically  weaker  sections  to  arrest  their  drop  out  at  class  VIII  and  encourage  them  to continue  the  study  at  secondary  stage.  Under  the  Scheme  one  lakh  fresh  scholarships  @  of Rs.12000/- per annum per student are awarded to selected students of class IX every year and their  continuation/renewal  in classes X to XII for study in a State Government, Governmentaided and Local body schools. There is a separate quota of scholarships for each State/UT. The selection of students for award of scholarships under the scheme is made through an examination conducted by the States/UTs Governments. As on date approx 18.75 lakh scholarships have been sanctioned to the Students across the country including 136239 Scholarships to the Students of Andhra Pradesh.

The scheme is boarded on National Scholarship Portal (NSP) since 2015-16. The NSP has  been  developed  by  Department  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (DeitY)  for streamlining and fast tracking the release of Scholarships across Ministries / Departments with efficiency, transparency and reliability. The eligible students from different States/UTs register themselves on NSP.

(b)    The  Scheme  was  evaluated  by  the  National  Institute  of  Planning  and  Administration (NIEPA). As per the evaluation study report, the scheme helped poor families in sending their meritorious children for secondary and senior secondary education and has therefore recommended for increasing the scholarship amount from Rs. 500/- to Rs. 1000/- per month for class IX and class X students and Rs. 1500/- per month for Class XI and XII students to make the scheme more attractive  and  effective.  Accordingly,  with  the  approval  of  Expenditure  Finance Committee the rate of scholarship has been enhanced from Rs. 6000/- to Rs. 12000/- per annum with effect from 1st April, 2017.

(c)      The  details  regarding  number  of  students  who  discontinued  education  after  availing  the scholarship  is  not  maintained  centrally,  however  an  evaluation  study  of  the  NMMS  scheme conducted by National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) in 2017 states  that  the  scheme  has  a  positive  impact.  The  data  reveals  that  about  70.1  %  beneficiary students  are  unable  to  continue  their  studies  without  this  scholarship  and  students  are  very conscientious about their studies as well as the need to perform well after qualifying in NMMS Scheme. They register better performance in Class IX, X, XI and XII in order to continue getting the scholarship for four consecutive years. Heads of all the institutions disclosed that the NMMS Scheme has reduced the drop-out rate at the secondary and senior secondary classes, particularly from Classes VIII to XII.

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