Shillong, June 22: After BJP MDC Bernard Marak alleged discrepancies in the release of scholarships to the students, the education department has said 20% of the total amount under the Umbrella Scholarship for ST students was released as the first instalment to all eligible beneficiaries. The balance amount will be released in 2-3 instalments based on the schedule of release of funds from the Centre.
The government also clarified that the fund is not part of CM’s Scholarship Scheme.
“It is important to clarify that this scholarship should not be confused with the Chief Minister’s Scholarship Scheme, which was announced during the last Budget Session. Registrations for the Chief Minister’s Scholarship Scheme will commence after the formal notification of the scheme and its detailed guidelines”, the commissioner and secretary, education, Vijay Mantri said in a statement.
He said in previous years, the Centre used to release the post-matric scholarship in 3-4 instalments, with each instalment covering only a section of the students. As a result, many students were left waiting anxiously for their share of the scholarship. However, beginning this year, the education department has adopted a new approach to ensure that every eligible student receives their due amount in every instalment.
Key updates as per official statement
“On 20th June 2025, the Education Department initiated the release of the first instalment (20%) of the Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students for the academic year 2024-25, benefiting 66,000 students whose bank accounts are actively linked with Aadhaar.
For the remaining 7,902 beneficiaries who have not yet received their scholarship, an SMS notification was sent on 20th June 2025 from the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) to the mobile numbers registered by the students, advising them to verify and update their Aadhaar seeding/linking status with their respective banks.
Upon receipt of the SMS, beneficiaries are given 15 days to comply with the Aadhaar linking requirement. After the 15-day period, the payment files of those who have successfully updated their Aadhaar linkage will be processed through the NSP payment module. Please note that the NSP system does not permit payment initiation before the expiry of the 15-day period following the SMS alert. For any queries or concerns, please write to dydhtetechnical2@gmail.com. or contact phone numbers 7005037347/9077574956”.
