The number of students selected against the total number of scholarships stipulated and the funds disbursed under the National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) scheme from 2011-12 to 2021-22, year-wise is as under: | |||
S NO. | Year | Stipulated No. of Slots | Candidates Selected |
1 | 2011-12 | 30 | 30 |
2 | 2012-13 | 30 | 23 |
3 | 2013-14 | 60 | 39 |
4 | 2014-15 | 100 | 59 |
5 | 2015-16 | 100 | 50 |
6 | 2016-17 | 100 | 108* |
7 | 2017-18 | 100 | 183* |
8 | 2018-19 | 100 | 100 |
9 | 2019-20 | 100 | 100 |
10 | 2020-21 | 100 | 100 |
11 | 2021-22 | 125 | 125 |
*Vacant slots of previous years were carried over.
Total funds disbursed during 2011-12 to 2021-22 (upto 10.3.2022) is Rs. 165.72 Cr. Year -wise figures are as under.
S NO. | Year | Expenditure (Rs. In Crore) |
1 | 2011-12 | 7.07 |
2 | 2012-13 | 6.89 |
3 | 2013-14 | 6.13 |
4 | 2014-15 | 8.78 |
5 | 2015-16 | 13.45 |
6 | 2016-17 | 14.02 |
7 | 2017-18 | 4.59 |
8 | 2018-19 | 5.97 |
9 | 2019-20 | 28.56 |
10 | 2020-21 | 32.92 |
11 | 2021-22 | 37.34# |
# As on 10.03.2022
As per the guidelines of the scheme, the funds have been disbursed every year through the Indian Missions abroad to all such selected students who have joined the concerned foreign university after following the stipulated procedure.
This department reviews the NOS scheme guidelines from time to time and makes changes which for simplifying the procedures and making the process more transparent. It was felt that the overseas scholarship for studying abroad is not needed for the topics/courses concerning Indian Culture, Heritage, History & Social studies on India, considering that Indian Universities are fully and well equipped to guide research based on such topics and most of the resources for these particular subjects are available within the country. These courses anyhow require frequent field visits to India during the course of studies and can thus be better undertaken in India itself and such students may avail of scholarship/fellowship under the other scholarship schemes being implemented by this Department as per their eligibility. As such, this revision does not hamper the academic freedom of the marginalised students. It would in fact provide more opportunities to other applicants covered under NOS (SC)etc. for studying abroad in other subjects for which the foreign universities are better known and equipped and would thus help bring into the country more knowledge on such subjects where resources in India are still not sufficient. Also, the selection of candidates from sub fields of Humanities/Social Sciences is still open to candidates who are aspiring to study Law, Economics, Psychology and other subjects which require international exposure.
National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) Scheme is a Central Sector scheme and State-wise selections are not made under the scheme. However, it is mentioned that during the last ten years 917 students against 945 slots, have been selected under this scheme, which includes students from the North-East region as well.