# Gujarat sets NMMS exam for December 5, applications open October 15 2026-10-13T23:01:23+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The State Examination Board will hold the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) exam on December 5, with online applications beginning October 15. Students can submit applications until October 24, and the online fee payment facility remains open until October 26. The exam fee is Rs 70 for general, EWS and OBC category students and Rs 50 for SC, ST and PH category candidates. Only Class 8 students in government, local-body or grant-in-aid schools are eligible. General and OBC students must have secured at least 55% marks in Class 7, while SC and ST students need 50%. The annual parental income must not exceed Rs 3.5 lakh. Selected students will receive Rs 12,000 annually for four years, paid directly into their bank accounts through the National Scholarship Portal. Gujarat has been allotted 5,097 scholarships under the Union education ministry-sponsored scheme. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The December 5 NMMS exam date locks in a tight application cycle ending October 24, leaving eligible Class 8 students exactly ten days to assemble income and caste certificates, Class 7 marksheets, and Aadhaar-linked records. Schools, which must complete the online submissions, face the same compressed window. With Gujarat's quota fixed at 5,097 scholarships, demand is likely to outstrip supply many times over, but the selection process is purely exam-based, not a quota draw, so performance on the 180-question paper decides the winners. The Rs 12000 annual payout, though modest, covers fees and materials for four years and targets the dropout point just before Class 10, making this exam a concrete gateway for economically weaker students. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com Straight schedule announcement, no slant This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: National Scholarship Portal, NMMS, State Examination Board Gujarat, Union Education Ministry Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-sets-nmms-exam-for-december-5-applications-open-october-15/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-sets-nmms-exam-for-december-5-applications-open-october-15/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/