Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Fellowship Programme (Mukhyamantri Fellowship)

What is the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Fellowship Programme?

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Fellowship Programme, known in Hindi as the Mukhyamantri Fellowship Karyakram, is run by the Planning Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh. According to the Planning Department's official guidelines, the objective is to give the youth of the state a chance to participate directly in the work of policy, management, implementation and monitoring alongside the government.

The programme places 100 selected research scholars in the state's aspirational development blocks for one year. The state's reasoning is that the energy of young researchers, their comfort with technology and their fresh outlook will help the implementation of schemes in the blocks that are furthest behind, and will feed into planning for future needs.

This is the fellowship most often referred to in connection with Uttar Pradesh's one trillion dollar economy goal, because the Planning Department is the department that owns both the trillion-dollar economy work and this fellowship. The fellowship's own guidelines, however, define its mandate in terms of aspirational development blocks, not in terms of a trillion-dollar target.

Two things about the design are worth stating up front:

• The fellowship is full time. Selected scholars cannot hold any other job, assignment or full-time course while the fellowship runs.
• The fellowship does not guarantee permanent service or employment afterwards. A completion certificate is issued by the state government, and that is what a fellow ends the year with.

What do fellows actually do?

Fellows are selected for aspirational development blocks and work under the supervision of the District Magistrate and the Chief Development Officer.

The core task is concurrent evaluation of all central and state government schemes running in the aspirational development block. The fellow does this in coordination with the Deputy District Magistrate and the Block Development Officer, and the guidelines specify the methods: survey, study, collection of primary data and monitoring. On the basis of that work the fellow presents suggestions for resolving the challenges that surface in running the schemes and for getting the intended benefits to the public. Fellows also participate in policy formulation, plan structure and plan implementation.

Reporting obligations are fixed:

1. A monthly progress report, recording the challenges in policy and plan implementation and citizens' attitude towards the plan.
2. A quarterly progress report and presentation, reviewed by the Secretary, Planning Department.
3. An annual report and presentation, on which the fellow's work is evaluated.
4. A compilation of collected data, including reports.

Which subject areas are covered?

The Planning Department lists eight thematic areas from which students and research scholars in reputed institutions are selected, and notes that other areas may also be considered as needed:

1. Agriculture, rural development, panchayati raj and allied sectors
2. Forest, environment and climate
3. Education, health, sanitation, nutrition and skill development
4. Energy and renewable energy
5. Tourism and culture
6. Data science, artificial intelligence, IT, ITES, biotechnology, machine learning and data governance
7. Banking, finance and tax revenue
8. Public policy and governance

Who is eligible for the Chief Minister Fellowship Programme?

You can apply if:

• You hold graduation with first class or a minimum of 60 per cent marks, or a higher educational qualification, from a premier institute or university.
• You are not more than 40 years of age as on the last date of receipt of applications.
• You are proficient in speaking and writing Hindi in the Devanagari script.
• You have relevant work experience in one of the listed areas, with evidence. The guidelines cite published articles, policy papers, research papers, and appraisal or monitoring of projects and schemes in the fellowship's thematic areas.
• You have excellent computer skills and the ability to work on information and communication technology applications, together with communication skills. Preference may be given to candidates with data analysis experience.
• You are willing to work in the field, which the guidelines make mandatory.

You cannot apply, or your application will be rejected at screening, if:

• You are over 40 on the last date for applications. All applications failing the age criterion are rejected.
• Your graduation is below 60 per cent and you hold no postgraduate degree or PhD. Only graduates with a minimum of 60 per cent, postgraduates, or PhD holders who have completed or submitted their thesis are eligible.
• You have not uploaded the 500-word Statement of Purpose. This is an express ground of rejection.
• You submit more than one application. Duplicate control allows only one application per email ID, per phone number and per name.
• Your application is ambiguous or incomplete, which the screening test removes.
• You are unwilling to do field work or to reside at the place of affiliation during the fellowship.

How are candidates selected?

Selection runs in three stages: screening, objective scoring out of 50, and a personal interview out of 25.

Objective scoring, 50 marks

Personal interview, 25 marks

At the interview the panel assesses subject knowledge, relevance, articulation, communication skills, creative thinking, ability to work independently, self-motivation, ability to work in a team, conflict resolution skills, and additional skills such as GIS, graphics, writing or software skills. The 500-word Statement of Purpose is taken into account in this score as well.

Final selection

Candidates are sorted in descending order of total marks, and the top 100 are selected. A further 50 candidates are kept on a waiting list. Where candidates have the same marks, the older candidate is placed higher.

How to apply for the Chief Minister Fellowship Programme

1. Watch cmfellowship.upsdc.gov.in and planning.up.nic.in for the Planning Department's advertisement, since applications are invited only when a cycle opens.
2. Open the fellowship portal at cmfellowship.upsdc.gov.in and read the detailed guidelines and eligibility conditions, available in both English and Hindi.
3. Register and fill the online application form on the Planning Department website, entering your educational qualifications, work experience, publications, awards and volunteering.
4. Prepare and upload a Statement of Purpose of exactly the required 500 words. This upload is compulsory and an application without it is rejected.
5. Upload your degree certificates, marksheets, proof of work experience and photo identity card, then submit the form and save the application number.
6. Log in to the candidate login on the portal with your application number and password to check whether you have been shortlisted. Shortlisted candidates are also intimated individually by email or phone.
7. Attend the personal interview at the notified venue with the documents listed below.

What to carry to the interview

The fellowship portal is specific about what shortlisted candidates must bring:

• Three copies of the finally submitted application form.
• Original educational documents: marksheets, certificates and degrees — submitted with the application form.
• Original proof of employment or work experience where claimed, plus publications and awards mentioned in the form. Printouts or duplicates are accepted for publications.
• Three sets of self-attested photocopies of all educational documents submitted with the application.
• A character certificate in original, issued by a Gazetted Officer.
• Three recent passport size colour photographs.
• A printout of the interview email.
• The original ID card and two copies of the same card uploaded with the application.

Shortlisting for interview is provisional and is done on the basis of the uploaded documents. All originals are verified by the authorised officer before the interview. No TA or DA is paid for attending the interview; candidates make their own travel arrangements.

What training do selected fellows get?

Selected candidates are trained for two weeks. The first week is general orientation and the second week is programmatic training. The training is delivered by the Uttar Pradesh Administrative and Management Academy (UPAM), Lucknow, and includes lectures by experts from specialised institutions such as the IITs and IIMs. The Planning Department coordinates with UPAM on the programme and course content.

The Planning Department also draws on AKTU, NIUA and UPAAM for support in selecting the research scholars.

What are the terms of the fellowship?

• Remuneration: Rs 30,000 per month.
• Field visits: Rs 10,000 per month.
• Tablet: Rs 15,000 as a lump sum, for monitoring and evaluation work. No further payment is admissible.
• Accommodation: residential facility is provided as far as possible within the development block itself.
• Duration: one year from the date of appointment, extendable by one year on the department's recommendation with competent approval, with no extra payment for the extended period.
• Leave: 12 days in a year, on a proportionate basis.
• Office hours: the same as for other employees of the office, with additional hours and travel required as the work demands.
• Joining: the scholar must join the concerned office within 30 working days of receiving the offer letter, failing which the selection is cancelled.
• Restrictions: no other employment or full-time study, no participation in any political movement during the fellowship, and residence at the place of affiliation.
• Post-selection checks: a medical fitness certificate at joining, and police verification after selection.
• Travel: extensive travel may be required once posted at district or development block level.

Common reasons applications are rejected

• Statement of Purpose not uploaded. Named in the guidelines as an outright rejection ground.
• Age above 40 on the last date of receipt of applications.
• Graduation below 60 per cent with no higher qualification.
• Duplicate applications from the same email, phone number or name.
• Ambiguous or incomplete applications, removed at the screening test.
• Documents not produced in original at the interview, since shortlisting is provisional until originals are verified.

Help and useful links

• Fellowship portal and candidate login: cmfellowship.upsdc.gov.in
• Detailed guidelines: available on the portal in English and Hindi. The guidelines note that in case of any discrepancy, the Hindi version prevails.
• Planning Department: planning.up.nic.in, which hosts the government order and the fellowship page
• Government portal: up.gov.in

The Planning Department has not published a dedicated helpline number for the fellowship, so queries should go through the portal and the Planning Department's contact page rather than through any third-party number. Applying is free, and no agent can secure a fellowship place.

How to check your application status

The Chief Minister Fellowship Programme does not run a year round application window, so status checking only matters while a specific cycle's advertisement is live. There is no SMS alert system and no published helpline for status queries, so the candidate login on the portal is the only reliable channel.

While the application window is open

• Log back in to cmfellowship.upsdc.gov.in with the application number and password you set when you registered, and confirm that every section shows as submitted, not saved as draft. A form left in draft state is not treated as a submitted application, whatever the reporting inside the portal might otherwise suggest.
• Check specifically that the 500 word Statement of Purpose upload shows as complete. Because this single missing upload is named in the guidelines as an outright rejection ground, it is the one item worth re-verifying even if the rest of the form looks fine.

After the application window closes, during screening

• The portal's candidate login is where shortlisting results are posted once the screening and the 50 mark objective scoring are complete. Log in with the same application number and password to see whether you have been placed in the shortlisted list, the waiting list, or neither.
• The guidelines say shortlisted candidates are also intimated individually by email or phone, using the contact details entered on the application form. If your email inbox (including spam) and phone show nothing by the time the portal has updated for other applicants, check the candidate login directly rather than waiting further, since individual intimation is a backup to the portal listing, not a replacement for it.

After the interview

• Final selection is published as a ranked list, the top 100 selected and 50 on a waiting list, sorted by total marks with older candidates placed higher in case of a tie. This list is posted through the same Planning Department channels, the fellowship portal and planning.up.nic.in, rather than communicated only by phone.
• A waiting list rank matters if a selected candidate does not join within the fixed 30 working day window after the offer letter, since that seat can then be offered further down the list. There is no separate status page for waiting list movement, so a waiting list candidate should keep checking the portal and planning.up.nic.in periodically until the joining deadline for selected candidates has passed.

If the portal shows nothing at all

Because no fellowship helpline number is published, the only fallback when the candidate login shows no update is the Planning Department's own contact page on planning.up.nic.in, or a written query through the portal's contact channel. Third party numbers or agents claiming to check status or influence selection are not part of the official process, and the guidelines note that applying itself is free.