Merit-cum-Means Scholarship — Minority Students
About This Scholarship
The Merit-cum-Means Scholarship is the most generous of the three Minority Affairs scholarships on NSP, targeting students from minority communities who have secured admission to technical or professional degree courses such as engineering, medicine, MBA, MCA, and other equivalent programmes. Unlike the general post-matric scholarship, this scheme combines merit (academic performance) and means (financial need) criteria, and reimburses course fees alongside a substantial maintenance allowance. It has a slightly higher income ceiling of ₹2.5 lakh, acknowledging that professional courses attract students from a marginally wider income band.
Eligibility Criteria
- Must belong to a notified minority community
- Enrolled in a recognised technical or professional course at undergraduate or postgraduate level
- Annual family income must not exceed ₹2.5 lakh
- Minimum 50% marks in the qualifying examination for admission
- The scheme covers up to 30% new students under the general category in each institution
How Much You Get
This scheme provides Up to ₹30,000/year + course fee to eligible students. Income must not exceed ₹2.5 lakh/year from all sources, as certified by a competent authority. Scholarship money is disbursed directly to your Aadhaar-linked bank account via PFMS — no institution or intermediary handles the funds.
Amounts may vary between day scholars and hostellers in schemes that have both categories. Always check the official scheme guidelines on scholarships.gov.in for the current year's amount structure, as rates are subject to periodic revision by the government.
Documents Required
- Minority community certificate
- Income certificate
- Admission letter and fee structure from institution
- Previous qualifying examination marksheet
- Bonafide certificate
- Aadhaar-seeded bank passbook
All documents must be uploaded in the format specified by NSP (usually JPG or PDF, under 200KB per file). Ensure scans are clear and legible — blurry uploads are a common cause of application defects.
This scheme has a fixed slot allocation per institution (30% of intake). Apply at the very beginning of the academic year — late applicants often find slots exhausted even if they are eligible. Your institution's NSP nodal officer can tell you how many slots remain.