Shillong, June 23: The Meghalaya Education Department has announced the release of the first instalment of the Umbrella Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe (ST) Students for the 2024-25 academic year. This initial payment, totalling 20% of the full scholarship amount, has already reached 66,000 eligible beneficiaries whose bank accounts are actively linked with Aadhaar.
In previous years, the Government of India 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,” stated the Commissioner & Secretary of the Department of Education, Government of Meghalaya. The remaining scholarship amount will be disbursed in two to three further instalments, contingent on the release schedule of funds from the Government of India.
While 66,000 students have received their initial payment under the Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe (ST) for the academic year 2024–25, approximately 7,902 beneficiaries are yet to receive their scholarship. For these students, an SMS notification was sent on June 20, 2025, from the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) to their registered mobile numbers. This SMS advises them to urgently verify and update their Aadhaar seeding/linking status with their respective banks.
Beneficiaries have 15 days from the receipt of the SMS to comply with this Aadhaar linking requirement. Once this 15-day period concludes, the payment files for those who have successfully updated their Aadhaar linkage will be processed through the NSP payment module. It’s important to note that the NSP system prevents payment initiation before this 15-day window closes.
The Education Department also clarified that this Umbrella 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 only after its formal notification and detailed guidelines are released.
For any queries or concerns regarding the Umbrella Scholarship, beneficiaries can contact the Education Department via email at [email protected] or by calling 7005037347 or 9077574956.
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