National Scholarship Portal (NSP) 2020 – Login, Schemes, Eligibility & Dates

The National Scholarship Portal (NSP) was envisaged and later created as a fabulous platform for bringing in together a number of scholarship schemes under one umbrella. It is a multi scholarship platform for centrally sponsored scholarship schemes, state government scholarships, and UGC and AICTE scholarships.

As many as 125 lakhs applications are received for these schemes every year and the scholarship amount disbursed can be estimated as much as two thousand crore rupees and more. In this article, we provide elaborate details to readers on various aspects of National Scholarship Portal like NSP objectives, the big list of scholarships, detailed application procedure for the academic year 2020, various documents required for application submission, steps to track application status, NSP mobile app, frequently asked questions and important contact details.

National Scholarship Portal – Objectives

The government expanded its digitization plan under the National e-Governance Plan. Under this massive project, the government also envisioned the mission mode project, which provides a standard one-stop platform for students to approach respective agencies to apply for a scholarship and later receive grants from the scholarship amount. 

For the convenience of student applicants, a SMART system has been implemented, taking into account the varied fields and backgrounds students come from, to apply for this scholarship. The SMART acronym stands for Simplified, Mission-oriented, Accountable, Responsive, and transparent system for direct benefit transfer to the candidate’s bank account, thereby ruling out any foul play while disbursing applications. 

The important objectives of the portal can be enlisted below:

• To ensure transparent and timely disbursal of scholarship amount to the candidates’ account.
• To offer a unified platform for diverse scholarships affiliated to state, central, UGC and AICTE
• To maintain a proactive and useful database of scholarship receiving candidates.
• To avoid duplication and mismanagement of applications.
• To set in a common system of application for diverse scholarship schemes.
• To implement smooth direct benefit transfer practices free of any loopholes. 

Schemes of National Scholarship Portal (NSP)

As mentioned previously, the National Scholarship Portal caters to many scholarship schemes, put together in one unified platform. The list of these scholarships is enlisted in this section. The various schemes and their respective scholarships are given below:

• Central government schemes
• UGC affiliated schemes
• AICTE affiliated schemes
• State government schemes 

National Scholarship Portal – Central Government Schemes

• Pre Matric Scholarships Scheme for Minorities
• Post Matric Scholarships Scheme for Minorities
• Merit Cum Means Scholarship For Professional and Technical Courses CS
• Pre-matric Scholarship for Students with Disabilities
• Post-matric Scholarship for Students with Disabilities
• Scholarships for Top Class Education for students with disabilities.
• Top Class Education Scheme for SC Students
• Financial Assistance for Education of the Wards of Beedi/Cine/IOMC/LSDM Workers – Post-Matric
• Financial Assistance for Education of the Wards of Beedi/Cine/IOMC/LSDM Workers – Pre-Matric
• Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna Scholarship for Andhra Pradesh
• National Fellowship and Scholarship for Higher Education of ST Students – Scholarship (Formally Top Class Education for Schedule Tribe Students) – only for scholarships
• National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education(NSIGSE)
• National Means Cum Merit Scholarship
• Central Sector Scheme of scholarships for college and university students
• 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
• Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme For RPF/RPSF

National Scholarship Portal – UGC Affiliated Schemes

• ISHAN UDAY – Special scholarship scheme for the northeastern region
• PG Indira Gandhi Scholarship for single girl child
• PG Scholarship for university rank holders(1st and 2nd rank holders)
• PG Scholarship scheme for SC, ST students for pursuing professional courses

NSP – AICTE Affiliated Schemes

• Pragati Scholarship scheme for girls for technical education at degree level 
• Pragati Scholarship scheme for girls for technical education at diploma level
• Saksham Scholarship Scheme for differently-abled students for technical education at degree level 
• Saksham Scholarship Scheme for differently-abled students for technical education at diploma level

NSP – State Government Schemes

National Scholarship Portal – How can you apply for a scholarship?

Unlike other sponsored scholarship schemes, that have unique registration and application procedure for every scholarship, NSP offers a standard format of application for all scholarships under it. The detailed and step by step application procedure is explained below:

Step 1: NSP Registration 

• Visit the home page of NSP.
• As a new user, every candidate first needs to register himself. Therefore click on new user registration.
• Read through all the instructions carefully and click on the continue button.
• Fill in all the required details in the registration form.
• In a few minutes, you will receive a student application ID and password on the mobile number you just provided in the form. 

Step 2: NSP Login 

• Log into the NSP homepage.
• Enter the application ID and password that you just received on your mobile phone.

Step 3: Password change and application form filling 

• Once candidate logs into the portal with details received on mobile, they will receive an OTP on their mobile number.
• Enter the OTP in the space provided in the portal, and you will be redirected to the page prompting you to change the password.
• This is a mandatory step and hit continue after changing the password. 
• Now, you will enter the dashboard of the applicant.
• Select ‘Application form’ on the page.
• Enter all details like personal details and academic details of the candidate, together with registration and any other essential details.
• Click on the ‘Save and continue’ button.
• Proceed to enter your contact details, the scheme you are interested in applying. 
• Likewise, upload all necessary documents to support your application. 
• Click on the ‘save as draft’ button on the page.
• Cross-check and validate all entered information.
• After finishing the validation of entered details, click on the ‘SUBMIT’ button. 

Key Documents Required

While filling up the online application form to apply for a scholarship, candidates have to keep these documents ready to upload them at the required instinct. The list of documents required is listed below:

• All documents providing educational details of the candidate (Mark sheets and certificates)
• The first page of the Passbook of the candidate. 
• Aadhaar card number of the candidate.
• Bonafide certificate obtained from the respective educational institution of the candidate.
• Aadhaar enrolment ID incase Aadhaar card number is not available. 
• Birth certificate.
• Domicile certificate.
• Identification proof of the candidate. 

National Scholarship Portal – Scholarship Registration tracking

At any point in time, candidates can know the status of their application by checking on the official portal. Steps to check the status of application:

• Log into the official website. 
• Check into the application dashboard of an applicant. 
• Click on the ‘Check your status’ tab. Candidates can check if their application has been submitted or not.

National Scholarship Portal – Apply through Mobile App

Students can also avail of the facility of applying to scholarships of NSP via mobile app facility. For this, candidates first need to download the app on their registered mobile number and proceed to application. Guidelines are provided below:

• Go to Google play store on your mobile device.
• Search for the app “National scholarship Portal mobile app.”
• Download and install the app on your mobile.
• Follow the same application procedure explained earlier.

In case candidates have downloaded the UMANG app on their mobile phones, they can continue to register via the NSP portal and proceed to apply for scholarships. 

National Scholarship Portal – Benefits

The NSP provides many benefits to its users. It was created with the idea of providing a uniform and common platform for many scholarships in one place. So, the ease of access and availability of information is now zeroed down to one single place. Likewise, some of the prominent benefits of NSP are enlisted below:

• Check detailed criteria for the scholarship scheme that the candidate is interested in.
• Find out all necessary scholarship information in one place without the need to juggle on multiple portals and information sources.
• The system is completely online and offers transparent services.
• An efficient team of members shall assist students in case of any discrepancies and for online checking of candidate’s applications. 
• Candidates can verify, check the status of the application, and manage their application in the dashboard provided.
• DBT or direct benefit transfer offers the most reliable way of transferring scholarship amounts directly to the beneficiary. 

NSP – Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I edit my application after hitting the submit button?

No. To make any changes in your application, candidates need to save their application as a draft. Later after cross-checking of information, they can enter the submit button. After hitting submit, they won’t be allowed to make any further changes. 

• I want to retain the password provided on my mobile phone number by the NSP portal. Is that allowed?

No. Password changing step is mandatory, and every candidate who registers with NSP shall receive an OTP for validation and the further step of changing their password. 

• IS the application period for all scholarships the same as the common application procedure followed?

No. The application procedure is common to all scholarships, but the timeline and application period varies for each scholarship. Candidates need to check the online portal for the latest updates. 

• Can we provide parents bank account number wherein the candidate does not possess his/her bank account?

Parent’s bank account numbers can be provided only in the case of pre-matric scholarships. For other scholarships, candidates have to provide their bank account numbers. 

• How to check if the scholarship amount has been credited to my account or not?

As soon as the amount is credited to the candidates’ bank account, the candidate shall receive a message/ notification on his mobile from the bank, and also, the same information shall be available as an update on the NSP scholarship payment section of the portal. 

Contact details of National Scholarship Portal 

For any further queries/ discrepancies related to this portal, candidates can reach out on the following contact numbers/e-mail id provided below for assistance:

• Help desk number: 0120- 6619540 
• E-mail address: helpdesk@nsp.gov.in