National Talent Search Exam to Introduce OBC Quota from 2019
- National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) to get OBC quota from 2019.
- HRD Ministry is also planning to increase the number of scholarships granted annually.
- The rate of scholarships will also be increased in the next few years.
The government has given its nod for introducing OBC Quota in the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE). The decision was given on Tuesday, October 31, 2017, for the second stage of NTSE.
NTSE is organised by NCERT to award scholarships to deserving candidates. The exam is taken by more than 1 crore Class 10 students annually who seek scholarships. The OBC quota in the exam will be introduced from 2019.
Speaking about scholarship schemes and grants, Prakash Javadekar, the minister of union human resource and development said that the government has already amplified the scholarship programmes. He further added that the rates of scholarships have been increased and that the number of scholarships awarded will also be doubled from 1000 to 2000 annually.
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The HRD Ministry is also planning to increase the scholarship amount to Rs 5,000 per month in the coming years.
According to the current reservation policy of NTSE, 15% scholarships are reserved for SC category students, 7.5% scholarships are awarded to students belonging to the ST category and 3% are reserved for persons with disabilities.
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The HRD Ministry is contemplating to extend 27% reservation to OBC students who seek to avail this scholarship. Javadekar added that since the process of conducting NTSE 2018 is already underway, the plans will be implemented for students appearing in 2019 onwards.