North Eastern Council (NEC) is a statutory advisory body comes under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and constituted under the NEC Act 1971. Home Minister is the Ex-Officio Chairman of the North Eastern Council while the Minister for DoNER is the Vice-Chairman. The Council is the nodal agency for socio-economic development of the northeastern region of the country. The Council acts as a forum for discussing inter-state matters and has become an effective platform for the entire northeastern region. The North Eastern Council comprises of Governors and Chief Ministers of eight north eastern states as its members. The North Eastern States are Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim. The main purpose of this Council is to ensure integrated development of the entire north eastern region. Meetings are held regularly with the members of the zonal councils of every state to discuss regional security, drug trafficking, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and boundary disputes. NEC functions as a regional planning body for the north east and formulates specific projects of developments. It draws road maps to mitigate challenges and allocate funds for every developmental work in the entire region.

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To support the economically backward meritorious students of the North Eastern Region, NEC Scholarships are given by the Council for pursuing higher studies in engineering and professional courses.
The eligibility criteria for NEC scholarship are:
1. The candidates must be resident of any of the North East states of India.
2. The candidates are required to possess relevant qualifications from recognized universities or institutes.
3. General candidates need to secure seventy percent marks in the last given examination for the chosen course. Courses that include PhD/ diploma/ degree/ post graduate/ M. Phil.

4. SC/ST candidates need to secure sixty percent marks in the last given examination for the chosen course.
5. The candidates family income should be lesser than 4.5 lakh including income from all possible sources.
6. The candidates must be unemployed.
7. The candidates should not be getting any financial support from any other source.
The rewards for each level of qualification are different and are stated below:
Level of courses approved list by NEC Rewards Book-grant amount

  • Diploma Rs. 900 per month Rs. 1000 per annum
  • Degree Rs. 1000 per month Rs. 1400 per annum
  • Post-graduate Rs. 1200 per month Rs. 2000 per annum
  • PhD/ M. Phil. Rs. 1500 per month Rs. 3000 per annum

1. M. Phil. rewards are sanctioned for one and a half year and can be extended for six months.
2. PhD rewards are generally sanctioned for a period of three years. If the head of the institution recommends then the period can be extended for another year.

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The below selection process is followed for short listing of candidates.
1. The NEC scholarship is actually based on merit and hence, selection is also carried out on basis of merit.
2. Academic merit is taken into consideration for each chosen course for final round of selection.
3. After the proper advertisement state government is responsible for the selection of candidates.
4. The procedure mentioned in Annexure V of the official notification is to be followed.
5. State government would be paying the stipend at stipulated rates for all levels of courses mentioned to the respective institutes.

6. The candidate’s application is scrutinized by DTE in December at the very beginning.
7. A list of shortlisted candidates is then made in January.
8. After selection the sanctioned amount is to be withdrawn within March.
9. Next, the candidates would be paid accordingly.
10. Direct Beneficiary Account transfer by ECS would be used to make the payments by State Government.

The below mentioned documents along with the NEC Scholarship application are needed to be uploaded.
1. A recommendation by head of the institute.
2. Certificate of permanent residence.
3. Undertaking that no other scholarship is availed.
4. Undertaking to refund stipend if any false information is detected.
5. Copies of all relevant certificates and mark sheets that are attested.
6. Recognition letter of the institute and course that one is studying.
7. In case of PhD or M. Phil., the synopsis is needed to be attached.
8. Annual family income and affidavit of any additional income of the candidate.
9. Caste certificates and domicile certificates that are attested.
10. Birth certificate or Class tenth admit card. (Age proof).
11. Residential proof. (Voter Card, Adhar Card etc.).
12. Hard copy of first page of bank passbook.

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