Umbrella Scheme for Education of ST Students Pre-Matric Scholarship (Classes IX and X), Arunachal Pradesh 2025‑26

The Umbrella Scheme for Education of ST Students Pre-Matric Scholarship pays a monthly scholarship to Scheduled Tribe students in Class 9 and Class 10 in Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs runs it as a centrally sponsored scheme to grant scholarship to eligible ST students for pursuing education in Classes IX and X. In Arunachal Pradesh, the state notice limits it to APST students, and the Directorate of Secondary Education in Itanagar handles applications.

Students apply online on the National Scholarship Portal. For 2025-26, the start of the online application form was 05-09-2025, and the last date for students to submit it was 30-09-2025. The portal says it is open for Academic year 2026-27 from 1st June 2026 onwards. The Arunachal dates for 2026-27 were not in the official sources we checked, so watch the portal and the state notice closely.

What you get

Selected students get a monthly scholarship for 10 months. Scholarships are paid at Rs. 225 per month for Day Scholars and Rs. 525 per month for Hostellers, for a period of 10 months in a year. The scholarship amount was increased by a ministry order dated 20 Dec 2019. Older guidelines show a lower rate: the 2012 guidelines list 150 and 350 per month for day scholars and hostellers.

The 2012 guidelines also set a books and ad hoc grant of Rs. 750 a year for day scholars and Rs. 1,000 a year for hostellers. The sources we checked do not show a later change to this grant.

Students with disabilities who study in private unaided recognised schools can get extra monthly allowances. The 2012 guidelines set these at Rs. 160 for reader, transport, escort and helper allowances, and Rs. 240 for a coaching allowance. The disability has to be certified by a competent medical authority of the State Govt./UT Administration. The ministry’s 2021-22 to 2025-26 guidelines pay the disability allowance for all twelve months.

Who can apply

• Scheduled Tribe status for Arunachal Pradesh. The state notice says applicants must be APST students.
• Domicile: The scholarship will be awarded by the Government of the State/Union Territory to which the applicant belongs as per the terms of domicile decided by the State/UT.
• Class: only Class IX and Class X students apply under the 2025-26 notice.
• School: you must attend as a regular student in a government school, a school recognised by the government, or a school under a Central or State board.
• Family income: the parents’ or guardian’s income from all sources must be Rs. 2.5 lakh a year or less. Income means gross income including income from all sources without any exemption and deductions available in the Income Tax Act.
• Parents’ income only: So long as either of the parents is alive, only income of the parents, as the case may be, from all sources has to be taken into account only and of no other member even though they may be earning. Income limits do not apply to an orphan supported by a guardian.
• Bank account: you need an account linked with Aadhaar, preferably in the State Bank of India.
• Cannot apply: students who already get another centrally funded pre-matric scholarship, and students who repeat a class, since a repeat year earns no award for that class.

The sources we checked do not set an age limit or a minimum mark for this scheme.

How to apply

1. Get your One Time Registration (OTR) number. OTR is a unique 14-digit number issued based on the Aadhaar/Aadhaar Enrolment ID (EID) and is applicable for the entire academic career of the student.
2. If face authentication fails, check that your Aadhaar biometric lock is unlocked. The portal says that the Biometric Lock / Unlock status should be as “Unlocked” for authentication in Aadhaar.
3. Register on the National Scholarship Portal and fill the online form. The notice covers both fresh and renewal applications.
4. Read the instructions before you fill the form. The notice asks students to follow them carefully.
5. Ask your Institute Nodal Officer (INO) for help. The notice directs INOs to guide students so that errors are avoided.
6. Submit before the last date. After the last date for online application submission, incomplete or partially filled applications will not be entertained under any circumstances.

A Common Service Centre can file the form for you. The portal says the total charges for the entire activity per candidate is fixed at Rs 30.00 (inclusive of all applicable taxes, etc.)

Documents you need

Check the portal for the list in use, since students need to carefully go through the State/NSP portal for required documents. The 2012 guidelines list these documents:

• A passport-size photograph with your signature, for a fresh application.
• An original Scheduled Tribe certificate signed by an authorised Revenue Officer, not below the rank of Tehsildar.
• An income certificate from the employer for employed parents, or a sworn affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper for self-employed parents and any other income.
• The previous year’s scholarship receipt, countersigned by the head of your school or institution, if you got the scholarship before.
• An Aadhaar-linked bank account, since the student should have a valid account in a Scheduled Bank, linked with Aadhaar and mobile number.

How students are selected

The scheme does not rank students against each other. All eligible Scheduled Tribe candidates will be given scholarships as prescribed in this scheme. Applications are checked at the institute level and then the state level. For 2025-26, the notice set 15-10-2025 for institute verification and 30-10-2025 for state verification. The District / State Nodal officer can either verify the application, make the application defective or reject the application giving reason.

Renewal

• You renew for Class X after you pass Class IX. It will be renewed for Class X after the student passes Class IX.
• The award continues with good conduct and regular attendance. The award once made will continue subject to good conduct and regularity in attendance.
• An income certificate is needed once, at admission to Class IX, and it stays valid for Class X. Income certificate is required to be taken once only, at the time of admission to class IX, which will be valid for class X also.
• A student who repeats a class does not get the scholarship for that class.

Important dates

• 2025-26 (latest state notice): applications open 05-09-2025, and the last date for students to submit is 30-09-2025.
• 2025-26 verification: institute verification by 15-10-2025, and state verification by 30-10-2025.
• 2026-27: the official Arunachal dates were not in the sources we checked.

For questions, the notice gives an email address for the State Nodal Officer, Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme: arunachaledn@gmail.com.