A day after the Rising People’s Party (RPP) raised the issue of delay in releasing the Chief Minister’s Meritorious Students’ Fellowship (CMMSF) to the top 50 students of HSLC examination 2023, the state department of school education (DoSE) has informed that the achievers of HSLC 2023 and HSLC 2024 batches would be felicitated together shortly.
In a statement, the department informed that CMMSF was an initiative of state chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, to assist and provide fellowship to the 50 top rank holders/individual performers in HSLC Examination conducted by Nagaland Board of School Education.
DoSE informed that CMMSF provides a grant of Rs.50,000 per achiever in the first year followed by equal amount each year upto 5th instalments subject to the candidates obtaining 80 percent and above marks at the promotion/annual/semester examinations of the higher studies pursuing.
It stated that 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 on account of Covid pandemic restrictions.
The department also informed that recipients of the CMMSF of HSLC 2021 and 2022 totalling 102 were felicitated by the chief minister in person on September 5, 2022 at Kohima. Stating that the achievers of HSLC 2023 and HSLC 2024 batches would be felicitated together in 2024, the DoSE informed that conduct of the felicitation programme was delayed on account of the Model Code of Conduct enforced due to the Lok Sabha elections and the ULB elections. However, with the lifting of the operation of MCC, the department said the top 50 rank holders of HSLC 2023 and 2024 would be felicitated shortly.