Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students

Maulana Azad National Fellowship is provided by the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MMA), Government of India to students hailing from minority communities pursuing research degrees like M.Phil or PhD in a full-time capacity. The students belonging to Sikh, Christian, Muslim, Jain, Parsi and Buddhist communities are classified as minority students in this scheme and are eligible to apply as such provided they are pursuing either of M.PHil or PhD degree in Engineering & Technology, Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences field. A total of 756 fellowships were awarded in the academic year 2017-18. The number is set to increase to a 1000 fellowships in the subsequent 2018-19, 2019-20 academic years. 30% of the fellowships are reserved to girl students, the male candidates of the same community will be given the allocation if the girl quota remains unfilled. 3% of the total number of fellowship is reserved for Physically Handicapped (PH) students. The students selected under this fellowship will be described as “Ministry of Minority Affairs scholars’.

Eligibility Requirements

Students who would like to apply for Maulana Azad National fellowship must match the following criteria laid out Ministry of minority affairs to be eligible:

1. The applicant must belong to one of the minority communities as identified in Section 2(c) of the National Commission for minority Act 1992. The identified minority communities in that section are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Parsi.
2. The candidate should have a valid minority certificate as provided by the state/union territory administration.
3. Must have secured a minimum of 55% overall marks in his/her post graduation from a recognised institution/college by national recognition bodies such as University Grants Commission (UGC) or All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).
4. The candidate should have applied or at least be in the process of applying for a research degree (M.Phil or PhD) before applying for the fellowship.
5. The overall family income of the candidate should not exceed 2.5 lakhs. The candidate must hand over a valid income certificate at the time of selection or whenever requested.
6. Under the recently revised guideline by UGC, clearance of CBSE-/CSIR- National Eligibility Test (NET) will be mandatory for the fellowship to be awarded.
7. The student must not be receiving a scholarship from any other source. If so, he/she must be willing to surrender that scholarship in order to receive the Maulana Azad National fellowship.
8. Transgender candidates are also eligible to apply and will be subject to reservation quota as set by the government.

How to Apply for Maulana Azad National Fellowship

Candidates who match the above-set criteria, ie., the eligible candidates and are willing to apply for this fellowship must take the following steps to be able to successfully register for the fellowship. Maulana Azad National Fellowship can be applied only through online mode.

1. The interested and eligible candidates are expected to be on the lookout for a newspaper ad in leading newspapers as well as employment news calling for applications of the fellowship.
2. The notification will also be provided on the official website. You can check it out here.
3. Press on the “Apply Now” button and fill up all the required fields.
4. The scanned copies of the documents mentioned below are also to be provided.
5. Upon completion of all the necessary requirements, click on the submit button.

Documents Required

The scanned copies of the following documents are to be provided during the registration process to be successfully able to register for the fellowship. Please be aware that incomplete registration or in the event of any false information provided, the candidate will not be selected for the fellowship and the application will be considered as void.

1. Aadhar copy of the student.
2. Valid community certificate as provided by the state/union territory administration which the candidate belongs to.
3. A valid income certificate of the earning member of the family.
4. Class Xth mark sheet.
5. Class XIIth mark sheet.
6. Graduation certificate
7. Post Graduation certification.
8. Physical Handicap certificate. (if applicable)
9. Certificate of Declaration by the head of the institute

Selection Procedure for Maulana Azad National Fellowship

The qualifying percentage of the candidate’s post graduation degree will come into play if the number of applications exceeds the number of fellowships awarded. Upon being shortlisted, the candidates will be scrutinized by an expert committee. If the number of applications falls short of the number of candidates applying, the remaining vacant fellowships will be carry forwarded to the next academic year. Upon being selected, the successful candidate can avail the fellowship after beginning his/her research or after 1st April of the selection year, whichever comes later. The candidate should avail the fellowship within three months from the date of the award/offer letter.

Fellowship Tenure

The fellowship tenure of the selected candidates varies according to the research degree the candidate is pursuing and the date of fellowship submission. The tenure may also vary according to the terms and conditions applicable.

Fellowship amount and other benefits

Those who are selected for the fellowship will get varying amount depending on the type of the fellowship and the field of research they are pursuing. In addition to the stipend, the scholars are entitled to various other allowances.

In addition to the amount provided above the scholar may also be subject to the following amount with regards to expenses:

• Medical: No separate amount for medical expenses is provided, but the candidate can avail the host institution,s medical facilities for free.
• Home Rent Allowance (HRA): The candidates are to be provided with a hostel facility within the institution. The candidates will be provided with the staying allowance such as mess, water, electricity fees etc. In case of unavailability of hostel accommodation or if the candidate wishes to stay in his/her residence of choice, the candidate is also eligible for House Rent Allowance.
• Leave: The scholars can avail leave for a maximum of 30 days in addition to the official holidays. The scholar may also take a gap year for a maximum of one year, but wouldn’t be provided with any income during the period and will be counted towards his/her tenure.

Terms and Conditions

• The fellowship will be terminated on the account of being provided with false information.
• The slow or unsatisfactory progress of the research work will lead to the termination of the fellowship.
• The candidate found to engage in any misconduct or dishonest work will lead to the termination of the fellowship.
• If the candidate is found to have been availing scholarship from any other resource, the fellowship will stand cancelled.
• In case of the cancellation of fellowship due to any reason, the amount provided will be recovered in the form of a loan to State Bank of India.
• Research candidates from any domains of knowledge will be selected and are hence eligible to apply.
• The fellowships will be distributed among states/union territories according to the availability and proportionality of minority populations in that region. A minimum of 4 fellowships will be provided to all region.
• Transfer of fellowships between different minority groups will not be allowed.
• Only one child per family is allowed to avail the Maulana Azad National Fellowship.
• In case the candidate wishes to apply for any other scholarship provided by any central or state authority. Upon selection, the Maulana Azad National Fellowship shall stand cancelled.
• The scholars are expected to submit a yearly report of his/ her research work. After being awarded the research degree, the candidate should provide a report on his/her research work in 500 words.
• There is no provision of extension provided beyond the 5-year term.
• In case of unsatisfactory research or failure in any of the exam, the candidate will be put into Junior Research fellowship for a year and the progress will be monitored till then. In case of improvement in performance, the candidate will be put back into the Senior Research Fellowship capacity for the remaining term.
• If the candidate wishes to resign from the award, the scholarship amount will be provided till the date of resignation.
• After completion of the research, the candidate is expected to submit the research done in INFLIBNET repository, Along with one national research paper, and one research paper published in the international journal by the end of the tenure..