FAQs about Pre-Matric, Post-Matric and Merit-Cum-Means Scholarship

FAQs about Pre-Matric, Post-Matric and Merit-Cum-Means Scholarship

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS TO HELP / SIMPLIFY ONLINE SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS UNDER PRE-MATRIC, POST MATRIC AND MERIT CUM MEANS BASED SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES FOR MINORITIES

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Q.No. 1. Who are eligible to apply for Pre-Matric, Post Matric and Merit- cum Means based Scholarship Schemes?

Answer: Students belonging to six notified minority communities viz. Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi (Zoroastrian) studying in India only and fulfilling the Scheme guidelines are eligible to apply for these scholarships.

Q.No. 2. How can I apply online for scholarship?
Answer: The Pre-Matric, Post Matric and Merit cum Means based Scholarship Schemes are online Schemes and one can apply for fresh or renewal Scholarship under any of these Schemes on the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) at www.scholarships.gov.in. Link to the Portal is also provided on the website of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, i.e. www.minorityaffairs.gov.in. An online undertaking has to be submitted for registration on the NSP by applicants who are above the age of 18 years and by the parents/guardian if the applicant is below the age of 18 years.

Q.No.3. What documents are needed to be uploaded on Portal while applying for Scholarship?
Answer: The following documents are required to be uploaded for Fresh applications under the Merit cum Means based Scholarship if the amount of Scholarship is more than Rs. 50,000/- per annum. Uploading of the document is not necessary for applying under the Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme.
i. Student Photo.
ii. Verification Form to be provided by the Institution.
iii. Income Certificate issued by the Competent Authority in the State/UT Government.
iv. A self-certified Community Certificate from the applicant who has attained 18 years of age and for others the Community Certificate certified by parent/guardian is required.
v. Applicants for Scholarship under MCM based Scheme have to upload self-attested Mark Sheet, indicating that the applicant has secured not less than 50% marks in the last qualifying exam at higher secondary/ graduation level.
vi. Fee Receipt of ‘Current Course Year’.
vii. Bank Account Number of the Student along with the IFSC Code of the bank branch (for Pre Matric Scheme where students do not have their own bank account, parents/guardian can provide their own account details).
viii. Residential/Domicile Certificate.
ix. Aadhaar number of the student and if Aadhaar is not available then bonafide student certificate from the school/institute and scanned copies of bank passbook and Aadhaar enrolment ID (if applied for Aadhaar).
x. If School/Institute is located in a State/UT different from domicile State/UT of the applicant then bonafide student certificate from School/Institute.
In case of Renewal of Scholarship for the next academic year, the applicant has to provide a certificate that she/he has secured 50% marks in the previous year’s examination, pursued from the same school/institute. In the case of renewal under the MCM based Scheme, the applicant must have pursued the same course from the same institute in the previous year and secured 50% marks in each semester/trimester as the case may be.

Q.No.4. What should be the type and size of the documents to be uploaded?
Answer: The format of the file should be.pdf and .jpeg and the size of each document should not exceed more than 200 kb.

Q.No.5. What documents are needed to be given to the Institute/School/College for verification of online application on the Portal after applying for Scholarship?
Answer: The list of documents to be submitted by the applicant for Fresh Scholarship, under any of the three Schemes’, for verification of her/his online application by the Institute/School/College is as under:
i. Student Photo.
ii. Income Certificate of Parent/Guardian issued by the Competent Authority in the State/UT.
iii. A self-certified Community Certificate from the applicant who has attained 18 years of age and for others the Community Certificate certified by parent/ guardian is required.
iv. Applicants for Scholarship under MCM based Scheme have to upload self-attested Mark Sheet, indicating that the applicant has secured not less than 50% marks in the last qualifying exam at higher secondary/ graduation level.
v. Bank Account Number of the Student along with the IFSC Code of the bank branch (for Pre Matric Scheme where students do not have their own bank account, parents can provide their own account details).
vi. Aadhaar number of the student and if Aadhaar is not available then copies of bank passbook and Aadhaar enrolment ID (if applied for Aadhaar).

Q.No.6. What is the Institute Verification Certificate?
Answer: In order to enable a student to apply for Scholarship under any of the 3 Schemes’ the Institute/School will have to appoint Nodal Officer and that Nodal Officer should register herself/himself on the portal (NSP). A format of the ‘Institute Nodal Officer Registration Form’ is given at Annexure-I.

Q.No. 7. What instructions should be followed by student while filling up Bank Account details?
Answer:
(i) Students/Parents/Guardians must enter IFSC code of their bank branch carefully.
(ii) Thereafter the complete Saving Bank Account number must be entered correctly. Students/Parents/Guardians are advised to get account number verified by the concerned Bank Branch as the Scholarship amount will not be transferred if the bank details are incorrect.
(iii) The bank account holder must check their ‘Know your Customer’ (KYC) status from the bank and if required the KYC must be done for successful transaction of scholarship amount.
(iv) Applicants are advised to link their bank account with Aadhaar, for faster disbursement and ensure that the account remains active till the disbursement of the Scholarship.
(v) The bank account must be operational/active till disbursal of Scholarship (for all eligible applicants) so that payment does not fail.
(vi) The bank account must be preferably in a Scheduled Bank (as per Reserve Bank of India) with core banking facility.
(vii) In the case of Post-Matric and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Schemes, the bank account must be in the name of the applicant/student only. In case of Pre- Matric Scholarship Scheme, the bank account should be in the name of either applicant/student or the applicant can have a joint account with his/her mother/father/guardian as indicated in the application.

Q.No.8. What is the UID number/Aadhaar Number?
Answer: UID number otherwise known as ‘Aadhaar’ number is Unique Identification Number given by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The Aadhaar Number is required to be seeded (linked) with the bank account in which Scholarship amount is desired to be transferred. Banks provide multiple ways of linking Aadhaar with the bank account and applicants can obtain the details from the website of the concerned bank or contact the concerned bank with a copy of the Aadhaar card.

Q.No.9. Do I need to get my Aadhaar Card to apply for Scholarship?
Answer: As per the Gazette Notification issued by Ministry of Minority Affairs under Section-7 of Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (18 of 2016) with respect to the Scholarship Schemes, it will be necessary for the eligible applicants to provide Aadhaar number while applying for the Scholarship and in case, and the applicant does not possess Aadhaar she/he can provide the details of alternative identification documents, as stated in the Gazette Notification, detailed below:
(a) (i) if she or he has enrolled, her or his Aadhaar Enrolment ID (EID) slip; or
(ii) a copy of her or his request made for Aadhaar enrolment, as specified in subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2; and
(b) (i) Bank passbook with photograph; or (ii) Ration Card, or (iii) Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card issued by the Income Tax Department; or (iv) Passport; or (v) Certificate of identity having photo of such student issued by a Headmaster or Principal of School under official seal of the school; or (vi) Driving license issued by the Licensing Authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988); or (vii) any other documents specified by the State Government or Union territory Administration.
If the UID number is entered, the applicant will be advised to update the Aadhaar number on NSP through applicants’ login, as soon as the Aadhaar number is assigned. Aadhaar number can be updated up to one month from the last date of application. In case the applicant fails to update Aadhaar number by that date the application will be treated as Non-Aadhaar application and dealt with accordingly.
[Note- For Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya, the documents mentioned at para (b) shall only be required]
Q.No.10. What is Aadhaar Based Payment?
Answer: Applicants/Students who have entered Aadhaar in their online application correctly and if their Aadhaar is linked to any of their bank accounts, in such cases the amount of Scholarship will be credited to that Aadhaar linked bank account only even if the student has mentioned any other non-Aadhaar linked bank account in her/his online application.

Q.No.11. Can I edit the information already saved and up to what time?
Answer: You can edit draft/incomplete information filled by you until you ‘Submit’ the online application. To edit the application, go to the option “Student login”→ enter the Application Id then click on submit ‘login’ button.

Q.No.12. Which fields I can edit before final submission of application?
Answer: - You can edit all details except “Registration Details”. It may be noted that once you ‘finally submit’ your application it will be forwarded to the next level and after that, you cannot edit further.

Q.No.13. Which fields in the application form are mandatory? Answer:- Fields provided with a red asterisk(*) mark are mandatory fields.

Q.No.14. Do I have to fill up the online application in one sitting?
Answer: No. You can fill up the online application in many sittings using ‘Save Draft’ until you are satisfied that you have entered all desirable fields correctly. The software provides the facility to save your application at every stage until you click on the ‘Submit’ button.

Q.No.15. Is there any Application ID?
Answer: Yes. An Application ID will be provided to the candidate once his/her application is submitted online. It will be conveyed to candidates through SMS. Students should remember their ID as it will be required while applying for renewal during subsequent years. Receipt of ID does not give itself a guaranteed award of scholarship.

Q.No.16. What should I do if I forget my Application ID?
Answer: The process of recollection of the Application ID is given as below:
“Student login-•>Forgot Registration Details?” then enter the basic fields accordingly and click on the button “Get Registration details””.

Q.No.17. What should I do, if my Institute name is not coming in the drop-down list of Institutes in the application form?
Answer: You may ask your institute to contact the concerned State Department for their registration through U-DISE/AISHE/NCVT(DGT) code available on NSP portal. If still the institute is unable to get registered on NSP portal, they may contact to NUEPA (National University of Educational Planning and Administration) and Department of School Education of their State (for U-DISE) code /AICTE (for AISHE code) / NCVT (for ITI courses) and confirm that their U-DISE/AISHE/NCVT code has been approved by the School Education Department/AICTE/NCVT and updated in the database of NUEPA/AICTE/NCVT(DGT), only then Institute will be able to register on NSP portal.

Q.No.18. What should I do, if I do not find my Course name in the drop-down menu?
Answer: You should immediately approach the institute (where you are studying) to log in their account and add the concerned Course from the Master course list. Thereafter, you may be able to find the desired course name in your online application.
If the desired course is not available even in the Master course list of Institute login, you/your Institute should immediately approach to the concerned State Department (where your Institute is physically located) to add the course. Name of course and course duration along with the supporting documents must be provided to the State Department.

Q.No.19. How should I check the status of my application online?
Answer: You have to log in under the option ‘Student Login’ by entering your Application Id and Password. Once login, you will be able to view the option ‘Check Your Status’. Under this option, you can check your online status.

Q.No.20. What should I do before making any call/enquiry/representation at helpdesk of National Informatics Centre (NIC) and/or Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA)?
Answer: The applicant should first check his/her online status on NSP as stated in Q. No. 17 and then make any call/enquiry/representation at helpdesk of National Informatics Centre (NIC) and/or Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA).

Q.No.21. What is the process of verification of my application?
Answer: Your application must be verified at School/Institute level and then at domicile district/ domicile State/UT level. You may contact the concerned verification authorities for online verification of your application within the timeline given on the NSP portal. Ministry of Minority Affairs will release the scholarship amount, only if your application is verified and approved by all verification authorities. In case, your application is rejected by any of the concerned authority due to any reason, you will not get the scholarship amount.

Q.No.22. How can I check whether the amount of my scholarship is credited in my bank account or not?
Answer: You may check the transaction status on PFMS portal i.e. www.pfms.nic.in under “Know Your Payment” (https://pfms.nic.in/static/NewLayoutCommonContent.aspx?RequestPagename=s tatic/KnowYourPayment.aspx ) option on the home page.

Q.No.23. What should I do for the successful payment of Scholarship in my bank account?
Answer: You are advised to keep your bank account active to receive the scholarship amount (till the disbursal of scholarships).
Confirm from your bank that your account is not dormant/closed and also be sure that your account is free from transaction limit or any other conditions till the disbursal of scholarship is made in your account, to avoid any chance of transaction failure/return of scholarship amount.
Please note that in case of transaction failure/return of scholarship amount, there is no provision for re-payment and Ministry of Minority Affairs is not responsible for such lapse.

Q.No.24. How do I know the name and address of Nodal Officer/ State Department of my State?
Answer: The name and contact details of the Nodal Officer/State Department of all States/UTs are available under the link of Ministry of Minority Affairs on the home page of National Scholarship Portal (NSP) (https://scholarships.gov.in/public/nodalOfficersList/NationalMeans-cum- MeritScholarshipScheme.pdf )

Q.No.25. Which fields are editable for verification authorities i.e. for Institute/District/State while verification of online application?
Answer: At Institute level, only ‘Fee’ can be edited by the concerned Institute. However, at District/State level verifying authorities, ‘Aadhaar Number’ & ‘Mobile Number’ of the student can be edited.

Q.No.26. What should I do if I come to know after final submission, that my application is ‘defected’ by the Institute/District/State verifying authority?
Answer: In case the application is marked as ‘defected’ by the Institute/District/State, the application will be reverted to the student for correction of the defect in his/her application form. Student can correct the defect and resubmit the application for re-verification within the timeline given on NSP.

Q.No.27. What should I do if I come to know after final submission, that my application is ‘rejected’ by the Institute/District/State verifying authority?
Answer: In case the application is marked as ‘rejected’ by the Institute/District/State, the application will not be considered for award of the scholarship.

Q.No.28. What should I do if I face some technical issue while applying for a scholarship on the NSP portal?
Answer: You can immediately register your complain through the link https://scholarships.gov.in/fresh/complaintspage or accessing Complaints -> Register Complaints on the home page of the NSP website or call on the Helpline number 0120-6619540 or send mail on e-mail id: helpdesk@nsp.gov.in.

Download: Bonafide Student Certificate