Chief Minister’s Meritorious Students Fellowship delayed due to elections, says Nagaland School Education dept.

DIMAPUR — The state School Education department said on Wednesday that the Chief Minister’s Meritorious Students Fellowship (CMMSF) for the High School Leaving Certificate examination 2023 and 2024 batches was delayed because of the Model Code of Conduct enforced due to the Lok Sabha elections and the urban local body election.

With the lifting of the Model Code of Conduct, the top 50 rank holders of HSLC 2023 and 2024 will be felicitated shortly, it said in a press release issued through the DIPR.

The release comes in the aftermath of a statement from the Rising People’s Party, expressing shock that the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), which is the final authority to decide as to when the CMMSF programme is to be held, is yet to take a decision even after a gap of one year.

Surmising that the CMO has adjusted the funds meant for the meritorious students elsewhere, the RPP maintained that such adjustments are not a new phenomenon, as “Every year the state Higher Education Minister promises to release the Post-Matric Scholarship on time, but every year he delays the release of funds and is not embarrassed to give concocted justifications for the delay, year after year.”

While clarifying on the matter, the School Education department stated that the CMMSF was initiated by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio to assist and provide fellowship to the 50 top rank holders/individual performers in the HSLC examination conducted by the Nagaland Board of School Education.

The fellowship provides a grant of INR 50,000 per achiever in the first year, in equal installments for the next four years, subject to the candidates maintaining a minimum of 80% marks in their higher education.

The first batch of 55 achievers of the HSLC examination 2019 were felicitated by the Chief Minister on January 31, 2020 and the second batch of 51 achievers were virtually felicitated in July 2021.

A total of 102 recipients of the fellowship for 2021 and 2022 were felicitated by the chief minister in person on Sept. 5, 2022, at Kohima, it added.