National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students (NFST)

The objective of the scheme is to encourage the Scheduled Tribe (ST) students, a section of society with the lowest literacy levels in the country, to acquire higher education by providing financial assistance in the form of fellowships to pursue M.Phil and Ph.D. Courses (full time) in Sciences, Humanities & Social Sciences & Technology in recognised Indian Universities/Colleges/Institutes. There are 750 slots for ST candidates every year for all the subjects.

Eligibility:

i) The candidate belonging to ST should have passed the Post-Graduation examination in the concerned subject.

ii) The candidate must be registered for regular and full time M.Phil./Ph.D courses in recognized University/ Institute/ Colleges by UGC. Fellowship amount: For JRF/SRF, the fellowship amounts to Rs.25000/28000 p.m. plus House Rent Allowance (HRA) as per norms. The Contingency is Rs.10000 p.a. for initial two yrs and subsequently Rs.20500 p.a. for Humanities & Social Sciences while Rs.12000 and Rs.25000 in the respective categories for Science. For M.Phil candidates, the fellowship shall be upto the period of 2 yrs or the date of dissertation, whichever is earlier while for Ph.D students, the tenure is upto 5 yrs or the date of viva, whichever earlier. Continuation of the fellowship every year for selected candidates is based on satisfactory performance, as recommended by the competent authorities.