ugc.ac.in National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students 2015-2017 : University Grants Commission

Organisation : University Grants Commission
Announcement : National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students 2015-17
Last Date : 23/11/2015

Apply Now : https://www.ugc.ac.in/
Home Page : http://www.ugc.ac.in/ugc_schemes/

National Fellowship for Higher Education :

INTRODUCTION :
The Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) scheme for Scheduled Tribes has been renamed as National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students and is formulated and funded by Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Related :
UGC Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship for SC/ST : www.scholarships.net.in/446.html

The scheme is open to candidates who belong to Scheduled Tribe and are pursuing higher studies such as regular and full time M.Phil and Ph.D degree in Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences and Engineering & Technology. There are 750 slots for Scheduled Tribe candidates every year for all the subjects.

Last Date : 23/11/2015

OBJECTIVE :
The objective of the scheme is to encourage the ST students a section of society with the lowest literacy levels in the country , to acquire higher education in the form of fellowships to pursue M.Phil and Ph.D. Courses (full time) in sciences, Humanities & Social Sciences & Technology in Indian Universities/Colleges/Institutes approved under section 2(f) of UGC Act (1956)/ICAR norms.

TARGET GROUP :
ST Candidates who have passed the Post Graduate examination in concerned subject and who desire to pursue research without JRF of UGC-NET or UGC-CSIR NET.

Eligibility :-
The Fellowship will be available only to the ST candidates who fulfill the following conditions for award :
( I ) The candidate belonging to ST should have passed the Post-Graduation examination for being eligible for the Fellowship.

( II ) The candidate must be registered for regular and full time M.Phil./Ph.D courses in University/Institute/Colleges recognized by UGC under Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act/ICAR by fulfilling conditions of admission of that University/Institute/Colleges.

The ST students once considered eligible for the Fellowship shall not be entitled for any other fellowship of the Centre or State Government for the same study.

The fellowship shall be payable once the student has been registered and started the research work.

No. of Fellowships (slots) :-
The total number of fresh fellowships each year will be 750 instead of 667. In case of nonavailability of adequate number of Scheduled Tribe candidates, the number of fellowship not availed during a year will be carried forward to the next academic session. There is no statewise ceiling on number of slots.

In case the number of candidates exceeds the number of available awards, priority will be give first to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVGTs) (earlier called as Primitive Tribal Groups) followed by female candidates, then BPL candidates and the remaining ones on inter-se-merit.

PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING FOR THE SCHEME :

Applications are invited through online mode once in a year through advertisement in leading newspapers and Employment News. The same is also uploaded in the UGC Website ugc.ac.in/rgnfst.

The candidates shall getting registration/admission in the notified Universities/Institutes/Colleges and after assessing their eligibility and suitability as per the criteria prescribed for Fellowship apply online through the Portal strictly within the cutoff date and time given in the advertisement. The applications submitted after the cutoff date and time shall not be considered. The selection is made on the basis of merit and as per the procedure of the Commission.

Note :-
( i ) Candidates after taking admission for the various courses under Fellowship in the notified Universities/Institutes/Colleges will submit the application online.

(ii) The particulars provided in the application form will be verified by the respective Universities/Institutes/Colleges .

(iii) The following credentials will be confirmed by the Universities/Institutes/Colleges in respect of the candidates :
(a) Scheduled Tribe, Certificate issued by the competent authority.
(b) PVTG, BPL certificate issued by the competent authority.

PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL OF THE UGC :
Applications received online within the stipulated date and time only will be scrutinized, and short listed by the Commission. The decision of the Commission will be final and binding. The Commission reserves the right to withdraw/cancel the award without assigning any reason. In case the number of candidates exceed the number of available awards, the Ministry will accord priority to first PVGT followed by female candidates, then BPL candidates and the remaining ones on inter-se-merit.

The inter se merit will be based on the percentage of marks obtained in the last qualifying examination prescribed for the admission to the course under Fellowships. The list of selected candidates will be displayed on the UGC website. Candidates can download their Award Letter from the National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students portal.

Modalities for payment of Fellowship :
The payment of the Fellowship amount of the scheme for STs would be made through the system of Direct Benefit Transfer through the Aadhaar Payment Bridge into the Aadhaar seeded bank a/c of the beneficiaries. The selected candidates should obtain the Aadhaar Number on priority basis. Pending Aadhaar seeding of the beneficiary bank A/c payment would be made into the bank account through NEFT.

The payment of Fellowship to the selected students will be made on yearly basis, through the Direct Benefit Transfer system immediately after selection of the candidates. This will also help Ministry to monitor using the Public Financial Management System – PFSM (formerly CPSMS). The selected candidates would be required to have bank accounts in banks having Core Banking Solutions.

In case the students are not having Aadhaar Numbers, they are required to apply for Aadhaar Card, within a month of their registration/admission in the courses under the Fellowship.

TRANSFER OF FELLOWSHIP :
The Fellow will be permitted to transfer the fellowship from one Universities/Institutes/Colleges to another Universities/Institutes/Colleges under special circumstances with prior approval of the UGC on the basis of `No Objection Certificate’ from both Universities/Institutes/Colleges.

Please read the instructions carefully before fill-in online application form.
Important Note :
Only Indian citizens belonging to ST categories are eligible for National Fellowship for Higher Education of ST Students.

Mandatory attachment required during submission of online form :
1. Scanned Copy of Caste Certificate (ST)
2. Scanned Copy of Master Degree Marksheet
3. Declaration/Certificate from Head of Department/Institution or competent authority of the University/Institute/College to the effect of forwarding of application and necessary facilities will be provided to the candidates during research of M.Phil/Ph.D. respectively(if candidate has already registered for M.Phil/Ph.d).
4. Scanned Copy of Physical Disability (if required)
5. BPL Certificate (if required)
6. Date of Birth Certificate
7. Scanned Copy of Candidate’s Recent Color Photograph And Signature.
8. Scanned Copy of PVTG Certificate

Steps to fill the online form :
Step-1: Fill-in Personal Information including caste and physical disability certificate(if applicable). A candidate registration id is generated on completion of step 1 that can be used for generating a pdf file once submission process is completed.
Step-2: Fill-in Research Work including subject,research topic, department etc.
Step-3: Fill-in Other Information including Scholarships/Present employement etc.
Step-4: Declaration and Final Submission