Agartala, September 12, 2024: Tripura’s Directorate of Tribal Welfare has successfully verified and approved a total of 35,665 scholarship applications from Scheduled Tribe (ST) students through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) for the academic year 2023-24. This initiative falls under the “Umbrella Scheme for Education of ST Children – Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) for ST Students-Tripura.”

Out of the approved applications, scholarships for 21,272 ST students have already been disbursed. The funds were transferred directly into the students’ Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts via the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), utilizing the available resources of the Directorate of Tribal Welfare.

To address the remaining 14,393 approved students, the Directorate requested additional funds from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The Ministry has since sanctioned the necessary funds to the Finance Department, Government of Tripura, ensuring that all eligible students receive their scholarships.

The Directorate remains committed to disbursing the scholarship amounts to all genuine and error-free applications through PFMS, ensuring that the funds reach the students’ Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts promptly and following all required official procedures.

In light of these developments, the Directorate has issued a memorandum urging all Heads of Institutions, both within and outside the State of Tripura, not to impose any extra or late fees on students who have taken admission with the expectation of paying academic fees from the scholarship fund. Additionally, students should be allowed to appear for their examinations to prevent any disruption in their academic progress.

Heads of Institutions are further requested to ensure that no eligible ST student from Tripura is denied the opportunity to sit for examinations due to delays in the disbursement of scholarship payments.

This information was conveyed by Additional Secretary of the Tribal Welfare Department, Subhasis Das in a memorandum issued on Thursday.