Shillong, October 14: The Meghalaya government on Wednesday released the second and final instalment of the Umbrella Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe students for the academic year 2025-26, disbursing ₹104.482 crore directly to 96,801 beneficiaries. With the latest release, the total scholarship amount disbursed in the two instalments has reached ₹198.432 crore, according to the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education.
The disbursement programme was held at St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, in the presence of Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui and Arts and Culture Minister Sanbor Shullai.
Addressing the gathering, Sangma said the government had worked through administrative challenges to streamline the scholarship disbursement process and ensure timely delivery to students. “Whenever there is a difficult decision in front of you, remember this, you will have that one percent more courage to take that tough decision because you know that you are here for a purpose,” the Chief Minister said.
Sangma also highlighted the government’s broader focus on human capital development, beginning from maternal and early childhood care and extending to education, entrepreneurship and employment opportunities. He urged students to use their scholarship money wisely and invest it in constructive avenues that could help shape their future, saying investment in young people was an investment in Meghalaya’s future.
During the programme, the Chief Minister also inaugurated infrastructure developed at St. Anthony’s College under RUSA 2.0, including the PG Block of the Biotechnology Department, Bio-Informatics Lab, renovated campus facilities and newly procured equipment. A modern Computer Lab developed under the Chief Minister’s Skills Mission was also inaugurated to strengthen digital learning and skill development.
Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the government has invested more than ₹250 crore directly for students, including over ₹50 crore towards uniforms, books and composite grants, apart from the latest scholarship instalment. He said more than ₹30 crore is being channelled to St. Anthony’s College alone, including ₹24 crore towards faculty salaries and ₹6 crore in student scholarships. He also highlighted the appointment of more than 600 new faculty members in higher education across the state.
Education Commissioner and Secretary Vijay Kumar Mantri said Meghalaya is the only state in the country to streamline and release 100 per cent of scholarship disbursements in just two instalments. He also said the state government had provided advance funding whenever central allocations were delayed and highlighted the expansion of local CUET centres from two to five locations — Shillong, Tura, Sohra, Jowai and Mawphlang. Mantri further said Meghalaya had established nine new government higher education institutions over the past eight years, compared with seven established in the years before that.
