A total 981 students from the minority communities of the state will be entitled to rebate of full course fee under merit-cum-means scholarship scheme in 85 enlisted educational institutions across the country, the state ministry of minority affairs said on Saturday.

According to a source, there will be 870 students from the Muslim community, 104 from the Christian community, five from Buddhist community and two from Sikh community from the state.

The 85 national institutions enlisted include Indian Institute of Technology  (IIT), Guwahati, and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar, in the state. The enlisted institutes in the northeast are North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST), Itanagar, in Arunachal Pradesh, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Shillong, and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong, in Meghalaya, and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Agartala, in Tripura.

According to the ministry's notification, 38 students, (two Muslims, 21 Christians and 15 Buddhists) will be picked from Arunachal Pradesh, 98 (20 Muslims and 78 Christians) from Manipur, 182 (10 Muslims and 172 Christians) from Meghalaya, 91 (one Muslim, 82 Christians and 8 Buddhists) from Mizoram, 193 (four Muslims and 189 Christians) from Nagaland and 48 (27 Muslims, 11 Christians and 10 Buddhists) from Tripura.

The scholarship comprises a monthly maintenance allowance of Rs 1000 for 10 months for a boarder and Rs 500 per month for a day scholar and Rs 20,000 per annum or the actual for course fee (whichever is less).

The maintenance allowance will be credited to the student's account while the course fee will be paid by the state department directly to the institute concerned. These scholarships would be are available for studies in India only and will be awarded through an agency designated by the state government.