Kohima, November 13 (MExN): The Department of Higher Education (DHE), Nagaland has informed that the Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students for the Academic Year (AY) 2024–2025 has been fully and finally disbursed to all eligible beneficiaries.
According to a press release issued by the Ex-Officio Director, Higher Education, for AY 2024–25, a total of 41,793 students were beneficiaries of the scheme in two phases.
In the first phase, a one-time full scholarship payment amounting to Rs 3071.49 lakh was released in June 2025 to 22,412 beneficiaries.
Following the submission of the Utilisation Certificate to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Ministry sanctioned Rs 2309.91 lakh on October 28, 2025, as its share for payment to the remaining students, the DHE said.
Upon completion of all formalities, the combined Central and State share of Rs 2566.57 lakh was credited to the Single Nodal Agency (SNA) account on November 10, 2025.
The second and final phase of payment was subsequently disbursed on November 11, 2025, to 19,381 remaining beneficiaries, it added.
With this, the Department confirmed that full and final payments for the Post-Matric Scholarship to ST students for AY 2024–25 have been made.
It further advised students whose names appear on the second phase beneficiary list but have not received their scholarships to ensure Aadhaar linkage and activation of their bank accounts for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments.
The beneficiary list is available on the Directorate’s website https://highereducation.nagaland.gov.in.
The Department further clarified that the scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (90:10) jointly funded by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the State Government.
The State Government, it maintained, consistently releases its share promptly upon receipt of the Central Government’s contribution, and scholarships are disbursed only after funds are released by the Ministry.
The scheme meant for ST students whose family annual income does not exceed Rs 2.5 lakh and supports students pursuing higher education from Class XI onwards.
In Nagaland, the DHE implements the scheme through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) in a fully digitised manner.
As per the department, the applications are verified online at the institutional level by the Institution Nodal Officer (INO) and at the state level by the Department. Disbursement of funds is made through the Aadhaar-Based Payment System (ABPS), ensuring transparency, efficiency, and seamless workflow, it added.
