Mumbai, September 24: The National Scholarship Portal (NSP) has announced changes to its scholarship rules, set to take effect from the academic year 2026-27. According to the new guidelines issued by the central government, students who qualify for welfare-based scholarships will also be eligible for merit-based scholarships. Similarly, those receiving merit-based scholarships can now apply for welfare-based scholarships as well.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has instructed all schools to disseminate this information to students, parents, and other stakeholders to raise awareness.
Duplicate Candidates Identified
A recent government notification highlighted issues encountered during the implementation of the ‘Deduplication Module’ for the academic year 2024-25. The School Education and Literacy Department (DoSEL) and the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE) faced challenges that led to several candidates being marked as ‘duplicate’. Investigations revealed the need for a unified understanding of scholarship classifications, limits, and purposes among various ministries and departments.
New L1 Verification Rules:
- During L1 verification, updated tuition fees, admission fees, and other non-refundable fees will be automatically filled in subsequent applications.
- All applications submitted by the applicant and their status will be visible to the Institute Nodal Officer (INO).
- When marking applications as defective, deficiencies will be categorized into two groups: scheme-related issues and general or academic information issues.
New L2 Verification Rules:
- All applications submitted by an applicant and their status will be visible to all relevant L2 nodal officers simultaneously.
- This will facilitate decision-making on multiple applications submitted by the same applicant under different scholarship categories.
- Applications with deficiencies related to normal or educational details will automatically be flagged in the “Red Flag” category.
Applications Open from June 1
Applications for the academic year 2026-27 on the National Scholarship Portal opened on June 1, 2026. The deadlines for different scholarship schemes may vary.
For more information, visit the official NSP portal.