National Scholarship Portal, 2016

Policy Update
Kiranmanonmani. Y

Introduction

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’, these words by Nelson Mandela emphasize the importance of education and how it is changing and has changed many people’s lives worldwide. Even though education has been made a fundamental right in India, it is still not accessible to most students in India due to financial difficulties.

National Scholarship Portal is an initiative by the Government of India under the Digital India initiative and national e-governance plan in 2016 to provide a one-stop solution for students to apply, receive, and disburse various scholarships through the portal easily and effectively. It was developed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. This initiative aims at providing a Simplified, Mission-oriented, Accountable, Responsive & Transparent ‘SMART’ System for faster & effective disposal of Scholarship applications and delivery of funds directly into beneficiaries’ accounts without any leakages.

The portal has been developed using Python, MySQL, and Django software as technology stacks. This combination of technologies empowers developers to create a dynamic and user-friendly platform that meets the diverse needs of scholarship seekers and providers alike. Students with low annual incomes will be provided with extra financial resources to pay the fees of higher institutions. Scholarships are also provided for the people who are currently in class 9th so that they can pay their school fees and continue their education till class 12th easily.

Mission and Vision

The National Scholarships Portal enables the processing of students’ applications for scholarships, receipt of applications, processing them based on various criteria, sanctioning, and disbursal of scholarship money directly to students’ accounts. The Mission Mode Project (MMP) of the National Scholarships Portal under the National e-Governance Plan aims at providing a common electronic portal for implementing various Scholarship schemes launched by the Union Government, State Government, and Union Territories across the country.

Objectives of the portal

To provide complete and true information about various scholarships by the Government of India to students in various levels of education across the country.
To ensure transparency and accountability in the process of providing scholarships from application to disbursal of the amount to the students’ bank accounts.
To provide the benefit of Direct Transfer.
To provide a common portal for all types of scholarships and accessibility to all students.
To avoid duplication in the process of providing scholarships and to ease the process.

Schemes on National Scholarship Portal:

The following are the departments and schemes under the National Scholarship Portal

1. Department of empowerment of persons with disabilities

Pre-Matric Scholarship For Students With Disabilities
Post Matric Scholarship For Students With Disabilities
Scholarship For Top-Class Education For Students With Disabilities

2. Department of Higher Education

Central Sector Scheme Of Scholarships For College And University Students

3. Ministry of Tribal Affairs

National Fellowship And Scholarship For Higher Education Of ST Students – Scholarship (Formally Top Class Education For Schedule Tribe Students)

4. Ministry of Minority Affairs

Merit-Cum-Means Scholarship For Professional And Technical Courses Cs
Pre-Matric Scholarships For Minorities
Post Matric Scholarship Schemes Minorities Cs

5. Department of School Education and Literacy

National Means Cum Merit Scholarship

6. Ministry of Home Affairs

Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme For Central Armed Police Forces And Assam Rifles
Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme For Wards Of States/UTs Police Personnel Martyred During Terror/Naxal Attacks

7. Ministry of Railways

Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme For the Ministry Of Railways

8. All India Council for Technical Education

AICTE – Swanath Scholarship Scheme (Technical Diploma)
PM Usp Special Scholarship Scheme For Jammu, Kashmir, And Ladakh
AICTE – Pragati Scholarship Scheme For Girl Students ( Technical Diploma)
AICTE – Pragati Scholarship Scheme For Girl Students ( Technical Degree)

9. University Grants Commission

National Scholarship For Post Graduate Studies
Ishan Uday Special Scholarship Scheme For Ner

10. North Eastern Council

Financial Support To The Students Of Ner For Higher Professional Courses(NEC Merit Scholarship)

11. Department of Social Justice and Empowerment

Central Sector Scholarship for Top Class Education For Sc Students

12. Ministry of Labour and Employment

Financial Assistance For Education To The Wards Of Beedi/Cine/Iomc/Lsdm- Pre Matric
Financial Assistance For Education To The Wards Of Beedi/Cine/Iomc/Lsdm- Post Matric

13. Department of Social Justice and Empowerment(Backward classes)

Financial Assistance For Education To The Wards Of Beedi/Cine/Iomc/Lsdm- Post Matric
Pm Yasasvi Central Sector Scheme Of Top Class Education In College For Obc, Ebc, And Dnt Students

Benefits Of the National Scholarships Portal

SIMPLIFIED PROCESS:
All scholarship information is available on a single website, and there is a single integrated application for all scholarships.
IMPROVES TRANSPARENCY:
The scholarship application process is transparent, and there are no hidden procedures that confuse students. The system automatically suggests suitable scholarships for students based on their eligibility and requirements.
STANDARDIZED PROCESS:
It serves as a decision support system (DSS) for Ministries and departments, as up-to-date information is available on demand. There is a Comprehensive MIS System to facilitate monitoring every stage of scholarship distribution, i.e., from student registration to delivery of funds.
ONE TIME REGISTRATION(OTR)
Students need to register in the portal only once for their entire academic life. They will receive a One Time Registration(OTR) number, which is a 14-digit unique number given based on the Aadhar card/Aadhar Enrolment ID and is applicable for the entire academic career of the student. There is no need to register each and every academic session to avail scholarship benefits.
GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM:
There is a dedicated part in the National Scholarship Portal where students, institutes, or any other users can register their complaints with proper evidence on the problems and difficulties they face in the portal. Their complaints will be processed, and redressal will be provided to the users as soon as possible.
MOBILE PORTAL:
The Ministry of Minority Affairs created a dedicated mobile portal for the National Scholarship Portal in 2018. This was developed especially for the poor students and students from rural areas who do not have access to laptops and personal computers to access the portal easily.

Challenges

Major challenges faced by the users of the National Scholarship Portal include complex processes involved in applying for scholarships, difficulty gathering and uploading documents in the portal, and it being difficulty for students whose educational institutions are not registered with the portal, which deprives them of the opportunity to receive financial assistance for education.

Conclusion

The National Scholarship Portal serves as a comprehensive platform for students to access various government scholarships, streamlining the application process and enhancing user experience. Its continuous updates and user-friendly design aim to support students in achieving their educational goals.

References

https://scholarships.gov.in/aboutUs – National Scholarships Portal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scholarship_Portal – Wikipedia
Challissery Samu, Lifna & Pawar, Mohan. (2017). Intelligent Scholarship Disbursement Module for National Scholarship Portal (NSP).
https://www.nic.in/project/national-scholarships-portal/
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ijraset.com/best-journal/portal-for-various-national-and-international-scholarship&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1746806049254907&usg=AOvVaw0WRg-BRsn-NcwIMcRvVq5y

About the Contributor: Kiranmanonmani. Y is an Economics Hons student at Hansraj College, University of Delhi, and a research intern at Impact and Policy Research Institute(IMPRI).

Acknowledgment: The author would like to express sincere gratitude to Ms.Aasthaba Jadeja and the IMPRI team for their guidance throughout the writing of this article.

Disclaimer: All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organisation.