National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students (NFST)

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

Objective of National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students

The objective of National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe 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.

Eligibility for National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe

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.

Number of Fellowships

The total number of fresh fellowships each year will be 750 instead of 667. In case of non- availability of adequate number of Scheduled Tribe candidates, the number of fellowships not availed during a year will be carried forward to the next academic session. There is no state- wise ceiling on number of slots.

In case the number of candidates exceeds the number of available awards, priority will be given 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.

Tenure of Fellowship

The maximum duration for which the fellowships are available is given below:

Rate of Fellowship of National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe

House Rent Allowances (HRA)

Suitable single-seated hostel accommodation may be provided to National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students JRF candidate in the Universities/Institutes/Colleges. In case of non-availability of hostel accommodation, HRA as per rules of the Universities/Institutes/Colleges will be paid to the Fellow subject to the submission of HRA certificate through the Registrar/Director/Principal.

National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Junior Research Fellow provided with accommodation in a hostel recognized/maintained by the institutions may be reimbursed the hostel fee excluding mess, electricity, water charges etc. A certificate to this effect is to be furnished through the Registrar/Director/Principal (Annexure-II). If the fellow makes his/her own arrangement of accommodation, he/she may be entitled to draw HRA as per categorization of the cities by the Govt. of India. The fellow will submit a certificate for the purpose to the UGC designated agency for claiming HRA through the concerned Universities/Institutes/Colleges.

Nature of Assistance

The tenure of National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students (NFST) is initially for two years under the National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Students Scheme. Before expiry of this period, the work of the Fellow will be evaluated by a Committee of three members comprising of Head of the Department, Supervisor and one outside subject expert to be constituted by the concerned Department of the University/Institution/College. If the research work is found satisfactory, his/her tenure will be extended further for a period of three years under the enhanced emoluments of the National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Candidates (SRF).

The recommendation of the Committee shall be submitted to the UGC Designated Agency for upgradation to the level of National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Students SRF. (Annexure-VIII). The work done and the time spent on scholarships or fellowships of any agency other than the UGC will not be taken into account while considering the proposals for enhancement in the value of fellowship. The fellowship may be withdrawn if the work is not considered satisfactory or the candidate fails in any of the examinations related to Ph.D.

In case the work for the first two years is not found satisfactory, an additional year will be given to him/her for improvement. However, during this period he/she will be designated as National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Students Junior Research Fellow. In such cases work will be evaluated again before third year of the tenure, and if improvement is found, the Fellow will get two more years under the National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Students (SRF).

Thus, the total period of fellowship (National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Students JRF and SRF) is for five years, with no further provision of extension.

The fellow doing M.phil will be paid fellowship amount upto the period of 02 years or the date of dissertation whichever is earlier. The fellow doing Ph.D will be paid fellowship amount upto 5 years or the date of viva whichever is earlier.

Gap Period under National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students (NFST)

The payment of fellowship for the gap period from M.Phil to Ph.D may be made and shall be counted in the total tenure of the fellowship i.e. for five years if the candidates are actually working in the university during the gap period. However, the total period of the fellowship shall remain five years. The gap period for the registration in Ph.D after completion of M.Phil is strictly one year. Fellowship will lapse if the gap is more than one year.

Medical: No separate/fixed medical assistance is provided. However, the Fellow may avail of the medical facilities available in the University/Institution/College.

Leave: The candidates are entitled for a maximum period of 30 days of leave in a year in addition to public holidays. They are not entitled to any other vacation. Women candidates are eligible for maternity leave of 180 days at full rates of fellowship once during the tenure of their award.

In special cases National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Candidates Junior Research Fellow may be allowed leave without fellowship by the Commission upto one academic year during the entire tenure of the award for accepting teaching assignments on a temporary basis, provided the assignment is in the same city/town.

In other cases, leave without fellowship will be restricted to a period not exceeding three months during the tenure of the award on the recommendations of the supervisor and the institution. The period of leave without fellowship will be counted towards the total tenure of the award. National Fellowship for Higher Education for ST Candidates JRF/SRFs are advised to apply for leave through University/Institution/ Colleges well in advance for the approval of the Commission.

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 www.ugc.ac.in/rgnfst.

The candidates shall get   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:

• Candidates after taking admission for the various courses under Fellowship in the notified Universities/Institutes/Colleges will submit the application online.
• The particulars provided in the application form will be verified by the respective Universities/Institutes/Colleges.
• The following credentials will be confirmed by the Universities/Institutes/Colleges in respect of the candidates:
• Scheduled Tribe, Certificate issued by the competent
• PVTG, BPL certificate issued by the competent

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.

Payment of Fellowship

The payment of the Fellowship amount of the National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students (NFST) 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.

National Fellowship for Scheduled Tribe Students – Official website

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