The NSP Scholarship 2026 season runs on the National Scholarship Portal, scholarships.gov.in. For the 2026-27 academic year, most central schemes close on 31 October 2026. This guide is for students in Assam, from Class IX to PhD, who want to apply for a central scholarship there. It covers getting your OTR number, picking the right scheme, the documents you need and tracking your application afterwards. If your scholarship runs on its own state portal, such as SIRISH, this is not the page you need.
One thing to know up front. You cannot open a scholarship form on NSP without an OTR number, and getting one needs a face scan on an Android phone or a visit to a Common Service Centre. If you have not done it yet, do it first. It is the step most likely to hold you up.
Everything here is checked against the NSP scheme list, its OTR FAQ and its student announcements as of 4 October 2026.
What the National Scholarship Portal is
NSP is the Government of India website where central ministries, the UGC, AICTE and several states run their scholarships. You register once, then apply for every scheme you qualify for from the same login. The money is paid straight into your bank account through PFMS, the government payment system.
From 2026-27 the portal states that you may apply for one merit-based scheme and one or more welfare-based schemes, as eligibility allows. A merit scheme rewards marks (Ishan Uday, NMMS, Pragati). A welfare scheme is based on your category, disability or family income. Each scheme's own rules still apply, so read its guidelines before you add a second one.
NSP Scholarship 2026 dates
| Stage | Date |
|---|---|
| Portal opened for 2026-27 | 1 June 2026 |
| Ishan Uday and UGC postgraduate scholarship opened | 16 September 2026 |
| CSSS college scholarship closed (renewals only) | 30 September 2026 |
| Last date for students, most central schemes | 31 October 2026 |
| Institute verification closes | 15 November 2026 |
| District and state verification closes | 30 November 2026 |
Note the CSSS row. The Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for college students (PM-USP CSSS) closed on 30 September 2026 and took renewals only this year. Several websites still show it with an October date. Do not wait for it.
Which NSP schemes Assam students apply for
- Ishan Uday (UGC): undergraduates from the North Eastern Region. See the Ishan Uday scholarship details.
- Pre-Matric and Post-Matric for ST students: run by the Government of Assam on NSP. See the ST scholarship Assam post.
- PM-YASASVI for OBC, EBC and DNT students: see the OBC scholarship post.
- National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship: on NSP only after you clear the NMMS exam. To sit the exam, read the NMMS scholarship guide.
- AICTE Pragati and Saksham: girl students and specially abled students in technical degree or diploma courses.
- Scholarships for students with disabilities: Pre-Matric, Post-Matric and Top Class.
- Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme for CAPF and Assam Rifles: for wards of serving and former personnel.
- UGC National Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies, and the Top Class Education schemes for SC, ST and OBC students at notified institutions.
New scholarship notices, with their own dates and links, are posted under Scholarship.
How to get your OTR number
OTR (One Time Registration) is a 14-digit number linked to your Aadhaar. You make it once and use it for the rest of your studies. It is free. The NSP OTR FAQ says so plainly, so ignore anyone who asks for money for it online.
Keep these ready:
- An active mobile number
- Your Aadhaar number, with that mobile number linked to it
- If you have no Aadhaar yet, your Aadhaar enrolment slip, or a parent's or guardian's Aadhaar if you are a minor
- An Android phone with a working front camera
- Open the OTR registration page and enter your mobile number and Aadhaar. After the OTP check you get a Reference number by SMS. It is not your OTR number yet.
- Install two apps from the Play Store: AadhaarFaceRD (by UIDAI) and the NSP OTR app.
- In the NSP OTR app, choose "eKYC with FaceAuth", enter your Reference number and the OTP, and tap "Proceed for Face Authentication".
- Face the camera in good light. Once the scan passes, your OTR number shows on screen and arrives by SMS.
If the face scan keeps failing, check two things. NSP says error 904 is fixed by updating the AadhaarFaceRD app. Failures also happen when the Aadhaar holder has locked their biometrics. Unlock them on the myAadhaar portal or the mAadhaar app, then try again.
No Android phone, or still stuck? Any Common Service Centre (CSC) can do the whole job with a fingerprint scan: Reference number, OTR and the full application form. NSP fixes the charge at Rs 30 in total. Do not pay more than that.
Already made an OTR last year? Use "Forgot OTR" on the OTR login page with your Aadhaar number. Do not make a second one. Two other NSP rules catch people out. If you made your OTR with an enrolment ID, you must add your own Aadhaar within one month or the OTR may be suspended. If you made it with a parent's Aadhaar, you must switch to your own after you turn 18.
How to apply for an NSP scholarship online
- Log in at scholarships.gov.in with your OTR number and password.
- Use the portal's eligibility check to see the schemes your profile qualifies for.
- Fill in the form: your course, institution, marks and family income. Choose your institution from the portal's list. If you cannot find it, ask your college to register on NSP.
- Upload your documents and submit. Save the application ID.
- Ask your school or college nodal officer to verify it. This is not optional.
That last step is where most NSP applications fail. After you submit, your institution must verify the form, then district or state officers. For 2026-27 those windows close on 15 and 30 November. A form your college never opens is never paid, and nobody will chase it for you.
Students with a disability have one extra step. NSP requires you to log in to the UDID portal and give consent to share your UDID details before you apply. Without it, the form will not submit.
Documents for NSP Scholarship 2026
- Aadhaar card, seeded to your bank account for direct payment
- Bank passbook in your own name
- Marksheet of the last exam you passed
- Fee receipt or bonafide certificate from your institution
- Income certificate, for income-based schemes
- Caste certificate for SC, ST or OBC schemes (see how to get a caste certificate in Assam)
- Disability certificate or UDID card, for disability schemes
- Recent passport-size photograph
The portal rejects files that are too large. Use image to PDF to join a multi-page certificate into one file, then compress PDF to get it under the upload limit. Both run on your phone and the file never leaves it.
Check your NSP application and payment status
To check your NSP scholarship status, log in with your OTR number. The dashboard lists every application you have made, with its stage: submitted, verified by the institute, verified by the district, sanctioned. You do not need to remember separate application IDs.
For the money itself, use Know Your Payment on the PFMS website. If your OTR profile shows Aadhaar as "Not seeded" even though you have linked it, use the "Aadhaar Seeding: Check it now" option in your profile. An unseeded account is the usual reason a sanctioned scholarship never arrives.
The NSP helpdesk is at 0120-6619540 and helpdesk@nsp.gov.in, 8 am to 8 pm every day except government holidays. For payment problems, the PFMS toll-free number is 1800 118 111. The full OTR rules are in the NSP OTR FAQ (PDF). Use only scholarships.gov.in and these numbers. See our list of official Assam government websites if you are unsure whether a link is genuine.