Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar approved reservation for students belonging to the other backward classes(OBC) in the National Talent Search Examination, a two-tier rigorous test for selecting meritorious Class X students for scholarships.

“Approved reservation for #OBC students in #NTSE National Talent Search Examination Stage-II conducted by @NCERT” Javadekar said in a tweet.

The 27 percent quota for OBC students will be effective from 2019 as the process for the 2018 examination has already commenced, the minister said in the tweet.

The reservation for OBC students will be in addition to already existing 15 percent quota for scheduled caste students, 7.5 percent for students from Scheduled Tribes and four percent for physically challenged students.

He informed that the number of scholarships from 1,000 to 2,000 for the second stage of NTSE will increase which is under ‘consideration’.

Class 11 and 12 students get Rs 1,250 per month under the scholarship, while undergraduate and postgraduate students get Rs 2,000. For PhD students, the amount is decided according to UGC norms, he added.

The stage-1 of the examination is conducted by state governments, while the stage-II is conducted the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to identify and nurture talented students.

The National Talent Search Examination is a test taken by students across the country and it is conducted to identify students of high intellect and academic talent.

Around 10,000,000 students appear every year for the exam. Over 1,000 successful students are awarded scholarships– 775 among them were for general students.

It started in 1963 as National Science Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS). During the first year of the implementation of the scheme, it was confined to the Union Territory of Delhi wherein only 10 scholarships were awarded to the Class XI students.

A number of scholarships related to NTSE are posted on Buddy4Study. Students looking for such scholarship can visit the site and get access to curated and latest information.