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Picture Courtesy:  THE HINDU

Context: 

The Union Social Justice Ministry seeks additional funds for the National Overseas Scholarship due to a budget shortfall.

About the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) Scheme 

It is a program run by the Union Social Justice Ministry, to support low-income students from marginalized communities (Scheduled Castes, Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, landless agricultural laborers, and traditional artisans) who want to pursue higher education abroad.

Each year, the scheme aims to select 125 new candidates, depending on available funds. Out of these 125 scholarships, 115 go to SC candidates, 6 to Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, and 4 to landless agricultural laborers and traditional artisans. The scheme also reserves 30% of the scholarships each year for female candidates.

What are the eligibility criteria?

Age => They must be under 35 years old on April 1st of the selection year.

Admission => They must have already received an unconditional offer of admission to a Master's or Ph.D. program at an accredited institution or university abroad.

Academic Performance => They must have secured at least 60% marks or an equivalent grade in their qualifying examination (e.g., a Bachelor's degree for a Master's program, or a Master's degree for a Ph.D. program).

Family Income => The total annual income of their family from all sources must be ₹8 lakh or less.

Recent Update

For the 2025-26 cycle, the Ministry selected 106 students for the scholarship. However, it plans to give confirmed "provisional award letters" to only the first 40 candidates. The remaining 66 selected students will receive their letters only "subject to availability of funds."  

A senior government official explains that the problem arises because the scholarship pays out over the entire period of a student's education abroad. Therefore, a significant portion of this year’s allocated funds must cover students selected in previous years who are still continuing their studies.   

The government is currently evaluating the National Overseas Scholarship scheme. This evaluation is a standard procedure to assess the scheme's performance and determine its continuation beyond the current financial cycle.

Source: 

THE HINDU