Government of Mizoram Incentive Cash Award Scheme, 2024 to Successful Candidates for Central and All India Service Examination

What is the Mizoram Incentive Cash Award Scheme?

The Government of Mizoram Incentive Cash Award Scheme, 2024 to Successful Candidates for Central and All India Service Examination is a cash incentive paid to bonafide residents of Mizoram who clear a stage of a Union Public Service Commission examination. It was notified by the Higher & Technical Education Department under Memo No. A.33023/3/2023-HTE(MSB), dated Aizawl the 14 October 2024, and signed by the Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Mizoram.

The 2024 notification is issued in supersession of all previous notifications and orders on the Incentive Cash Award Scheme. That matters for anyone who remembers an earlier circular with different amounts: the October 2024 text is the one in force, and older figures no longer apply.

The stated objective is straightforward: to encourage educated youth among citizens of India who are bonafide residents of Mizoram and who aspire to enter the Central and All India Services. Mizoram sends a small number of candidates into the UPSC system every year, and the cost of coaching and of living in a metro while preparing is the single largest barrier for a candidate from a household in Aizawl, Lunglei or Champhai. The scheme attacks that cost directly rather than paying only on final selection.

Clause 4 names the Mizoram Scholarship Board (MSB) as the implementing and administering authority. MSB is the same body that runs Mizoram's pre-matric and post-matric tribal scholarships, the PM-USP Central Sector Scheme of Scholarships and the state post-matric merit scholarship, and it works under the Higher & Technical Education Department.

Which examinations qualify?

Clause 3 lists eight UPSC examinations. Clearing any one of them brings the candidate inside the scheme:

1. Civil Services Examination
2. Combined Defence Service examination (OTA, Officers Training Academy)
3. National Defence Academy and Naval Academy examination
4. Combined Medical Services examination
5. Central Police Forces (Assistant Commandants) examination
6. Indian Economic Service / Indian Statistical Service examination
7. Combined Geo-Scientist examination
8. Section Officers (20 per cent direct recruitment by UPSC)

Examinations conducted by the Mizoram Public Service Commission or by the Staff Selection Commission are outside this list. The scheme is specifically about entry to the Central and All India Services through UPSC.

Who is eligible for the Incentive Cash Award?

You can claim the award if:

• You are a citizen of India and a bonafide resident of the State of Mizoram, evidenced by a Permanent Residential Certificate.
• You have successfully cleared one of the eight listed UPSC examinations.
• You were not an employee under the Union Government, a State Government, or any government-aided public service undertaking or board at the time of appearing for the examination.
• You are not covered under any other scholarship or incentive scheme implemented by the Union or State Government.
• You file your claim within three months of the declaration of results.

You are not eligible if:

• You were in Union or State Government service, or in a government-aided PSU or board, when you sat the examination.
• You are already drawing a scholarship or incentive from another Union or State Government scheme.
• You are not a bonafide resident of Mizoram.
• You have already used both of your permitted chances at the stage you are claiming for.
• Your claim reaches the Board more than three months after the result date.

The two-chance rule in clause 5(4) is worth reading carefully. A candidate is entitled to two chances: clearance of the preliminary examination twice and clearance of the mains examination twice. That is four claim events in total across a career, two at prelims level and two at mains level. But the same clause adds that an applicant shall be entitled to claim for only one examination at a time, so you cannot stack claims from two different UPSC examinations in the same cycle.

How much money does the scheme pay?

Clause 6 sets three separate heads of assistance.

1. The cash award; Rs 1.00 lakh. Paid for one-time clearance of an examination, "or as determined by the Government from time to time". This is the headline benefit and the reason the scheme is named an Incentive Cash Award.

2. Coaching fee reimbursement; up to Rs 20,000. An applicant who attended coaching to prepare for the preliminary examination is reimbursed the actual fees paid to the coaching institution or Rs 20,000, whichever is less. This reimbursement can be claimed only once and is not granted on the second attempt.

3. Hostel or mess fee reimbursement — Rs 2,000 a month for up to 6 months. Paid at a uniform rate of Rs 2,000 per month against production of actual payment receipts, and restricted to a maximum of six months. Like the coaching reimbursement, it can be claimed only once and is not available on a second attempt.

A candidate claiming all three heads at their first successful attempt therefore receives up to Rs 1,32,000, Rs 1,00,000 plus Rs 20,000 plus Rs 12,000.

How to apply for the Incentive Cash Award in Mizoram

1. Wait for your UPSC result to be declared for the stage you are claiming: preliminary or mains. The three-month clock starts on the date of declaration of results, not on the date you learn of it.
2. Collect the prescribed claim form from the Office of the Secretary, Mizoram Scholarship Board, Aizawl. Clause 8 specifies that the application form shall be obtained from that office; there is no substitute format.
3. Assemble and attest the enclosures. The notification requires four, duly attested: a copy of your Aadhaar or other identification document; a copy of the call letter or intimation letter from UPSC; a copy of your Permanent Residential Certificate; and the receipt of course fee where a coaching reimbursement is being claimed. Add hostel or mess payment receipts if you are claiming that head.
4. Submit the completed claim to the Secretary, Mizoram Scholarship Board within three months of the result date.
5. Wait for verification. MSB verifies every claimed document before sanction. Keep the originals of your receipts available in case they are called for.
6. Receive the payment by e-payment. Clause 7 provides that after verification, payment is made by the Secretary, Mizoram Scholarship Board through e-payment into the claimant's account.

There is no online submission portal for this particular claim. MSB publishes notices, circulars and orders on msb.mizoram.gov.in, and that is where any change in form, procedure or rate would appear first.

Common reasons a claim fails

• Filed after three months. The single most common and least recoverable error. Diarise the result date.
• No call letter or intimation letter attached. This document is how the Board verifies that the stage was actually cleared.
• Employment at the time of the examination. A candidate who was in government service when they sat the examination is excluded even if they have since resigned.
• Drawing another government scholarship or incentive. Clause 5(3) excludes overlap with any Union or State Government scholarship or incentive scheme.
• Second claim for coaching or hostel reimbursement. Both are once-only, and the notification says explicitly they will not be granted on the second attempt.
• Documents not attested. Clause 8 requires the enclosures to be duly attested before submission.

Key dates and the status of the scheme

The scheme came into force from the date of its notification by the State Government, 14 October 2024, and supersedes all earlier Incentive Cash Award notifications and orders. There is no closing date for the scheme itself. The only deadline that binds an individual is the three-month claim window after each result.

Clause 9 reserves the Government's right to amend, continue or abolish the scheme, and states that the award cannot be claimed as a matter of right. Clause 10 makes the Government's decision final and binding on any question of interpretation. Both clauses are standard, but they mean that a candidate should confirm the current rate with MSB before budgeting around the Rs 1 lakh figure.

Where to get help

• Office of the Secretary, Mizoram Scholarship Board, Aizawl. The single point for the claim form, submission and payment.
• Secretary, MSB: Dr. P.L. Ramliana, 9436153251.
• Under Secretary: Pu Joseph L. Hauhnar, 9862363908.
• Superintendent: Pu Zohmangaiha, 9862324621.
• Public grievances can be raised through the Public Grievance link on msb.mizoram.gov.in or on the central CPGRAMS portal.

No fee is charged for the claim form or for processing an Incentive Cash Award claim, and no agent is involved at any stage.