Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026 – Eligibility, Last Date & Online Application
EducationalLast Updated: September 2026
Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026 applications are open on the National Scholarship Portal from 16 September 2026 to 31 October 2026. The scheme is run by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for students of the North Eastern Region who have just joined the first year of a regular undergraduate degree. Selected students get ₹5,400 per month for general degree courses and ₹7,800 per month for technical, medical, professional and paramedical courses, with 10,000 fresh scholarships awarded every year. Parental income must be below ₹4.50 lakh per annum.
If you passed Class 12 in 2026 from a school in the North East and are now in the first year of a BA, B.Sc, B.Com, B.Tech, MBBS, Nursing or a similar regular degree course, this page walks you through the exact eligibility rules, the documents you need, how to apply on NSP, and the mistakes that get most North East applications rejected every year.
Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026 at a Glance
| Scheme Name | Ishan Uday Special Scholarship Scheme for North Eastern Region |
| Offered By | University Grants Commission (UGC), Ministry of Education |
| Academic Session | 2026–27 |
| Who Can Apply | First-year UG students with North East domicile |
| Total Slots | 10,000 fresh scholarships per year |
| Scholarship Amount | ₹5,400/month (general degree) · ₹7,800/month (technical / medical / professional / paramedical) |
| Income Limit | ₹4.50 lakh per annum (parents, from all sources) |
| Tenure | 3 to 5 years, depending on course duration |
| Application Mode | Online only, via National Scholarship Portal (NSP) |
| Selection Basis | Merit on Class 12 marks · no entrance exam |
| Application Fee | No fee |
| Payment Mode | DBT to Aadhaar-seeded bank account |
Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026 Important Dates
| NSP application window opens | 16 September 2026 |
| Last date for student application | 31 October 2026 |
| Last date for defective verification | 15 November 2026 |
| Last date for institute-level verification | 15 November 2026 |
The two November dates matter more than most students realise. Submitting your form on 31 October is not the finish line — your college still has to log in and verify it. If your institute misses 15 November, your application dies even though you did everything right. Apply by the second week of October and physically follow up with your college scholarship nodal officer.
Ishan Uday Scholarship Amount 2026: How Much You Actually Get
The UGC scheme guidelines fix the rate by course type:
- General degree courses (BA, B.Sc, B.Com, BBA-general, etc.) — ₹5,400 per month
- Technical, professional, medical and paramedical courses (B.Tech, B.E., MBBS, BDS, B.Pharm, Nursing, etc.) — ₹7,800 per month
Your college decides which bucket your course falls into at the time of application, so check that your institute has classified your course correctly on NSP. A B.Tech student wrongly tagged as "general degree" loses ₹2,400 every month.
One point of confusion worth clearing up: UGC's own Student Scholarship Schemes page currently lists the financial assistance as ₹80,000 per annum, while the downloadable scheme guidelines state the monthly rates above without specifying how many months are paid in a year. Payments are generated on an annual basis through PFMS and released by DBT. Treat the monthly figure as the official rate and confirm the exact annual disbursement from the scheme details shown on your NSP dashboard before quoting a number to anyone.
Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026 Eligibility Criteria
1. Domicile — all eight North Eastern states
You must hold a valid domicile or permanent residence certificate from one of the eight states of the North Eastern Region:
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Sikkim
- Tripura
Several websites circulate a seven-state list that leaves out Nagaland. That is wrong — Nagaland students are eligible.
2. Class 12 from a school inside the North East
You must have passed Class 12 or an equivalent examination from a school situated within the NER, through a recognised board — AHSEC, SEBA-affiliated higher secondary schools, CBSE, CISCE or NIOS schools located in the region all count. The pass must be from the year preceding the year of study, so for the 2026–27 session you need a 2026 Class 12 pass.
This is the rule that disqualifies the most people. If you are in second year, third year, or took a gap year after Class 12, you cannot apply as a fresh candidate. If you are an NE domicile holder but did your Class 12 in Delhi, Kota or Bengaluru, you are also out.
3. Admitted to the first year of a regular UG degree
You must already be admitted, in Regular / Full-Time mode, to the first year of a recognised undergraduate degree programme. The college can be anywhere in India — you do not have to study inside the North East. For integrated and dual degree programmes, the scholarship is payable only for the UG component.
4. Parental income below ₹4.50 lakh
Combined annual income of your parents from all sources must not exceed ₹4.50 lakh. You will need an income certificate from the competent authority — in Assam, the Circle Officer (rural) or the Sub-Divisional Officer (urban).
5. A recognised institution with a valid AISHE code
Your university, college or institute must fall under one of these categories and must be registered on NSP with a valid AISHE code:
- Universities, institutions and colleges covered under Section 2(f) and 12(B) of the UGC Act
- Deemed-to-be Universities under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, eligible for UGC grants-in-aid
- Universities, institutions and colleges funded by the Central or State Government
- Institutes of National Importance
- Institutions recognised by other statutory councils, within India or outside
Before you start the form, ask your college office one question: "Is our institute registered and active on NSP for this session?" If the answer is no, your application cannot be verified and the effort is wasted.
Reservation
There is 3% horizontal reservation for differently-abled persons, applied as per Government of India norms. Transgender candidates are eligible to apply, with reservation followed as per GoI norms.
Who Is NOT Eligible for Ishan Uday Scholarship
The scheme guidelines specifically exclude:
- Students pursuing courses or programmes through Open Universities — IGNOU, KKHSOU, and similar distance-mode enrolments
- Students already availing another scholarship for the same undergraduate programme under any other scheme
- Students who gained admission through management quota
- Students in diploma or certificate courses that do not lead to the award of a degree
- Students whose parents' income exceeds ₹4.50 lakh per annum
The management-quota exclusion catches a lot of private engineering and nursing college students in Assam and Meghalaya. If your admission was outside the merit counselling route, check your admission letter carefully before applying.
State-Wise Slot Distribution: What It Means for Assam Students
The 10,000 slots are not first-come-first-served, and they are not a single all-India merit list either. UGC allocates slots to each NER state based on that state's population as per the latest census. If a state cannot fill its quota because there aren't enough eligible candidates, those unfilled slots are redistributed equitably among the other North Eastern states.
Practically, this means two things. Assam, being the most populous state in the region, receives the largest share of slots — so an Assam student's realistic chance is better than the raw 10,000-out-of-everyone figure suggests. But you are competing against other Assam applicants on Class 12 marks, not against the whole region. Strong AHSEC or CBSE marks from 2026 are your main lever, because there is no separate entrance examination.
Documents Required for Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026
Keep clean, legible scans ready before you open the form. NSP rejects blurred and oversized uploads, and re-doing them at a cyber cafe on 30 October is a bad plan.
- Domicile / Permanent Residence Certificate issued by the competent authority
- Income Certificate from the competent authority (Circle Officer or SDO in Assam)
- Class 12 marksheet (2026)
- Class 12 pass certificate
- Class 10 marksheet — commonly used as date-of-birth proof
- Birth certificate
- Aadhaar card (front and back)
- Bank passbook — account must be Aadhaar-seeded and in the student's own name
- Admission letter or bonafide certificate from your current college
- Recent passport-size photograph
- Scanned signature
- Disability certificate, if claiming PwD reservation
The single most common payment failure is the bank account. Money is released through Direct Benefit Transfer, and DBT will not land in a joint account, a parent's account, or an account whose Aadhaar seeding is incomplete at the NPCI mapper. Visit your branch and get written confirmation that Aadhaar seeding is active — not just "Aadhaar linked".
How to Apply Online for Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026
Step 1 — Complete your One Time Registration (OTR)
NSP now requires OTR before you can apply for any scheme. Go to scholarships.gov.in, complete OTR using your Aadhaar and Aadhaar-linked mobile number, and finish the face authentication step through the NSP OTR mobile app if prompted. You will receive an OTR ID — save it. This same ID works for every NSP scheme in future years.
Step 2 — Log in and select the scheme
Log in with your OTR ID and password, then choose "Ishan Uday Special Scholarship Scheme for North Eastern Region" from the list of UGC schemes. Make sure you are on the Fresh application flow, not Renewal.
Step 3 — Fill in academic and institute details
Enter your Class 12 board, roll number, year of passing and marks. Then select your current institute by its AISHE code, your course name, and your course type. Confirm with your college that the course type shown (general vs technical/professional) is correct.
Step 4 — Enter bank and income details
Fill in your own bank account number and IFSC, and your parents' annual income exactly as stated on the income certificate. A mismatch between the figure typed here and the figure on the uploaded certificate is an automatic rejection at verification.
Step 5 — Upload documents
Upload each document within the size and format limits shown on screen. Check that every scan is right-side up and fully readable before moving on.
Step 6 — Submit and lock the application
Save a draft, review everything once, then final submit. An unfinalised draft is treated as no application at all — drafts left unlocked are auto-rejected on the last date. Download the PDF of your submitted application and note your application ID.
Step 7 — Get your institute to verify
Take a printout of the submitted application to your college scholarship nodal officer and ask them to verify it on the NSP institute login before 15 November 2026. Track the status on your NSP dashboard until it reads verified.
Renewal Rules You Should Know Before You Apply
Ishan Uday is not a one-year award. Once selected, it is renewed for the full duration of your first degree course, but the conditions are strict:
- You must maintain good conduct and the prescribed attendance
- An annual progress report from your Registrar, Director or Principal must be submitted each year
- Failing to get promoted to the next class means you forfeit the scholarship
- Changing your course of study is not permitted. If you switch courses, the scholarship stands forfeited from the date of the change
That last rule deserves a pause. If you are on a B.Sc now but planning to move to a B.Tech next year, or you are unsure about your college, understand that the switch costs you the entire remaining scholarship. Decide before you accept the award.
Common Reasons Ishan Uday Applications Get Rejected
- Draft never finalised. The form was filled but not locked before the deadline.
- Institute verification not done. The college never logged in, or missed the 15 November window.
- Institute not registered on NSP or missing a valid AISHE code.
- Income figure mismatch between the typed value and the uploaded certificate.
- Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, or the account is in a parent's name.
- Wrong Class 12 passing year. Only the immediately preceding year qualifies.
- Name mismatch across Aadhaar, Class 12 marksheet and bank records — even a middle name or spelling difference.
- Duplicate scholarship. Already drawing another scheme for the same UG course.
- Unreadable uploads — dark photos of documents taken on a phone instead of proper scans.
Assam Students: Where to Get Your Domicile and Income Certificate
Both core certificates are available online through the Government of Assam's Sewa Setu portal at sewasetu.assam.gov.in, issued under the Assam RTPS Act. Register with your mobile number and OTP — no Aadhaar seeding is needed just to register.
- Income Certificate — apply under "Issuance of Income Certificate". It is issued by the Circle Officer for rural areas and the Sub-Divisional Officer for urban areas, under the Revenue and Disaster Management Department. The online charge is ₹30 statutory plus a ₹10 convenience fee; extra service charges apply if you go through a PFC or CSC.
- Permanent Residence Certificate — there is a dedicated service, Application for Permanent Residence Certificate for Higher Education, which is the correct one for scholarship purposes.
Residents of the autonomous council areas must use the council-specific service. Sewa Setu lists separate income certificate services for KAAC (Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council) and NCHAC (North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council) areas — applying under the general service from these districts will get your application returned.
Start these applications now if you don't already hold them. Certificate processing can take a week or more, and the NSP deadline will not wait for your circle office.
ইশান উদয় স্কলাৰশ্বিপ ২০২৬ — চমু বিৱৰণ (Assamese Summary)
- UGC-ৰ ইশান উদয় বিশেষ স্কলাৰশ্বিপ আঁচনি উত্তৰ-পূৱ ভাৰতৰ আঠখন ৰাজ্যৰ ছাত্ৰ-ছাত্ৰীৰ বাবে।
- কেৱল স্নাতক (UG) প্ৰথম বৰ্ষত নিয়মীয়া (Regular / Full-Time) ধৰণে নামভৰ্তি কৰা ছাত্ৰ-ছাত্ৰীয়েহে আবেদন কৰিব পাৰিব।
- 2026 চনত উচ্চতৰ মাধ্যমিক (Class 12) উত্তীৰ্ণ হ'ব লাগিব, আৰু বিদ্যালয়খন উত্তৰ-পূৱাঞ্চলৰ ভিতৰত হ'ব লাগিব।
- পিতৃ-মাতৃৰ বাৰ্ষিক মুঠ আয় ₹4.50 লাখতকৈ কম হ'ব লাগিব।
- সাধাৰণ ডিগ্ৰী কোৰ্চৰ বাবে মাহে ₹5,400 আৰু কাৰিকৰী / চিকিৎসা কোৰ্চৰ বাবে মাহে ₹7,800।
- বছৰি মুঠ 10,000 টা নতুন স্কলাৰশ্বিপ দিয়া হয়। বাচনি হয় Class 12-ৰ নম্বৰৰ ভিত্তিত।
- আবেদন কেৱল National Scholarship Portal (scholarships.gov.in)-ত অনলাইনত কৰিব লাগিব। কোনো ফী নালাগে।
- শেষ তাৰিখ: 31 অক্টোবৰ 2026। কলেজে NSP-ত verify নকৰিলে স্কলাৰশ্বিপ নাপাব।
Official Links
- Apply online: National Scholarship Portal — scholarships.gov.in
- Scheme guidelines (PDF): Ishan Uday Official Guidelines
- UGC scheme page: ugc.gov.in
Dates and scheme parameters can be revised by UGC at any time. Always cross-check the scheme details displayed on your own NSP dashboard before you submit.
Apply Without the Cyber Cafe Queue
Most students in Assam end up paying a cyber cafe ₹150–₹300 to fill this form, then paying again for every other scholarship and job application through the year — re-uploading the same Aadhaar, the same marksheet, the same signature each time.
On Avedan, you build your profile and document locker once. Your Aadhaar, photo, signature, marksheets, income certificate and domicile certificate sit in one place, already compressed and correctly sized, and get reused across every government application you make. You get deadline reminders before the window closes, and a step-by-step guided flow for scholarships like Ishan Uday instead of a blank government form.
Download the Avedan app to track Ishan Uday Scholarship 2026 and every other UGC, Assam Government and central government opportunity in one place.
Related links
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