Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students 2027: Registration

Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students 2025 is to provide five-year fellowships in the form of financial assistance to students from minority communities, notified by the Central Government, to pursue M. Phil and Ph.D. The Fellowship will be implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs through UGC for students belonging to the minority communities. The fellowship holders under this Fellowship will be known as Ministry of Minority Affairs scholars.

The Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) was a scheme that was discontinued in 2022-23. The MANF was a five-year fellowship that was awarded to students from minority communities who were pursuing M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in various disciplines. The fellowship provided a monthly stipend, a research allowance, and a contingency grant.

MANF Current Status & Issues

• The scheme was withdrawn in December 2022, though ongoing beneficiaries were to continue receiving support until the end of their tenure.
• However, stipend disbursement has faced significant delays—some researchers haven’t been paid since late 2024 or early 2025.
• Though the 2025–26 Union Budget allocated ₹42.84 crore, the Ministry states disbursement of committed liabilities is still pending approval

The scheme covers all Universities/Institutions recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as under :

• Central/State Universities (including constituent and affiliated institutions) are included under Section 2(f) of UGC Act, 1956 and have valid accreditation from NAAC.
• Deemed Universities under Section 3 of UGC Act, i.e., Institution for higher education notified by Central Government to be deemed University, in consultation with UGC and having and having valid accreditation from NAAC.
• The institution fully funded by State / Central Government and empowered to award degrees.
• Institutions of National Importance as notified by Ministry of Human Resource Development. (mhrd.gov.in/institutions-national-importance )

What is MANF?

• A five-year integrated fellowship for full-time M.Phil / Ph.D. studies, exclusively for students from notified minority communities (Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi) in India.
• Implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs through the UGC as the nodal agency.
• Applicable only to institutions recognized by the UGC (Central, State, Deemed, Institutions of National Importance)

Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students 2025 Scope

• Postgraduate Scholarships for Minority Students: This scheme is offered by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The scheme provides scholarships to minority students who are pursuing postgraduate studies in India.
• National Scholarships for Minorities: This scheme is offered by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The scheme provides scholarships to minority students who are pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate studies in India.
• Scholarships for Minorities from the State Governments: Most state governments offer scholarships to minority students who are pursuing higher education. You can check with the state government of your residence for more information.

The Fellowship will cater the minority community students pursuing regular and full-time research studies leading to award of an M.Phil/Ph.D degree within India only. This will enable them to be eligible for employment to the posts with M.Phil and Ph.D as prerequisites, including the posts of Assistant Professors in various academic institutions.

Implementing Agency

UGC will be the nodal agency for implementing the Fellowship and ensure that the MANF Scheme is also included in the Notification/Press Release to be issued by the National testing Agency (NTA) for UGC-NET and Joint CSIR-UGC NET examinations.

Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students 2025 Eligibility Criteria

A candidate has to fulfill the following conditions to be eligible for award of this
fellowship:-

1. He/she should belong to one of the minority communities notified under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, viz., Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian (Parsi).
2. Prior clearance of UGC-NET or Joint CSIR-UGC NET examination will be a prerequisite for award of Maulana Azad National Fellowship for minority students for M.Phil/Ph.D.
3. The eligibility conditions will be as per notification for UGC-NET and Joint CSIR-UGC-NET examinations.
4. The Minority Community candidates, who have already secured admission and qualify NET examination will be given preference. Such candidates will be required to join the fellowship within 3 months of the issue of the JRF award letter. The date of commencement of the fellowship shall be the date of declaration of result of MANF or date of joining, whichever is later.
5. In case sufficient candidates, who have already secured admission are not available, candidates who have not yet secured admission will also be selected in the order of merit in the NET examination. Such candidates will be eligible to receive fellowship under MANF, subject to admission for M.Phil./Ph.D. in research institutions. The validity period of the offer is three years w.e.f. the date of issue of the JRF Award letter under the scheme.
6. A scholar is eligible to receive only one fellowship at a time. The scholar is required to declare that he/she will not accept/receive any other monetary benefit/scholarship/fellowship from any other source. In other words, a scholar who is awarded a fellowship under this scheme shall not accept any other fellowship/scholarship or hold any appointment, paid or otherwise, or receive
   any emoluments, salary, stipend etc. from any other source during the tenure of the award (except in case of ‘academic leave’ of one year). In case, a scholar is already in receipt of any scholarship/fellowship, he/she will have to relinquish either the previous scholarship/fellowship/ any other monetary benefit or to forgo the selection under this scheme.
7. A scholar who does not complete his/her research work during the period of fellowship shall not be eligible to apply again under this scheme. Similarly, a scholar who has completely or partially availed any fellowship earlier shall also not be eligible for fellowship under this scheme.
8. Employees of any University/ College/ Educational Institutional/ Central/ State/ UT
   Government shall be excluded from availing fellowship, even if they are on Study
   Leave or EOL to pursue the M.Phil./Ph.D. course.

Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students 2025 Mode of Selection and Number of Slots

1. The total number of slots for the fellowships to be awarded under the scheme is 1000 per year. Out of 1000 slots available under this scheme, 750 will be allocated for subjects under National Eligibility Test – Junior Research Fellowship (NET JRF) of UGC and the remaining 250 for Science category students through CSIR UGC NET-JRF joint test for science streams. The NET is held twice in a year and 500 selections will be made from each NET.
2. 30% of the fellowship shall be earmarked for women students; the remaining 70% will be general. In case there are a shortage of women candidates, the fellowship can be passed on to male students of the same minority community.
3. The reservation for differently able students shall be made as per UGC norms and in a horizontal manner.
4. Community wise selection of scholars at the national level will be done on the basis of their pro-rata population.
5. Un-utilized Fellowship slots of any community will be transferred to eligible
   Scholars of other Notified Minority Communities purely on merit basis at the
   national level

MANF 2025 Duration of Fellowship

The duration of the fellowship is as under:

Rate of Fellowship

The rate of fellowship for JRF and SRF will be at par with the UGC fellowship as amended from time to time. Presently these rates are as follows:

@ Rs.35,000/- pm. for remaining tenure (SRF)Fellowship in Engineering & TechnologyContingency for Humanities & Social Sciences@ Rs.10,000/- p.a. for initial two years
@ Rs.20,500/- p.a. for remaining tenureContingency for Sciences, Engineering & Technology@ Rs.12,000/- p.a. for initial two years
@ Rs.25,000/- p.a. for remaining tenure scores/Reader assistance (All subjects)@ Rs.2,000/- p.m. in cases of physically
and visually handicapped candidate

Download MANF Guidelines Here.

Maulana Azad National Fellowship for Minority Students 2025 Highlights