In a first, President Murmu sanctions grant for Eklavya school toppers-OxBig News Network

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, President Droupadi Murmu has sanctioned a discretionary fund to the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) for toppers from the Eklavya Model Residential Schools this year.

Officials told The Hindu that the NESTS had disbursed ₹62.40 lakh of this discretionary fund to 823 meritorious students who have secured the highest marks in their respective streams across Eklavya schools in the country.

The NESTS, under Ministry of Tribal Affairs, administers over 470 Eklavya schools across the country. Over 1.38 lakh students are enrolled in these schools with at least 85% of them from Scheduled Tribe communities.

One official explained that this initiative provided a one-time financial assistance of ₹7,500 each to two top-performing students from each stream — Science, Humanities, and Commerce — in every school that has had students appear for the Class XII board examinations for the academic year ending in 2025.

The discretionary fund was sanctioned to NESTS earlier this year, which was transferred through direct bank transfer to the students’ account set up by their respective schools within 2-3 weeks of the results being announced, officials said.

They added that the selection of meritorious students for receiving this grant had a tie-breaker mechanism as well which had worked in a preference for girl students and was used in one instance where 20 students from 10 EMRSs had secured the same marks. If the tie persisted, Class XI performance would be considered.

A statement from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on Monday said that the initiative “underscores the shared vision of the Hon’ble President of India and NESTS to foster equitable access to quality education, incentivise scholastic achievement, and empower tribal youth to confidently pursue higher education and professional aspirations”.

The EMRS programme to run residential schools for tribal children is among the main schemes implemented by the Tribal Affairs Ministry at the Centre and has been a key plank for the current administration to highlight its commitment to reaching Scheduled Tribe communities.

The scheme, in existence since 1997-98, has seen major reforms beginning in the first term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which included sanctioning over 600 new Eklavya schools across the country, and setting up the NESTS as a central administrator of the schools.