Hyderabad, July 22: India’s largest iron ore producer NMDC has invited applications for 200 fully sponsored nursing seats under its flagship Balika Shiksha Yojana for the academic year 2026–27. The admission notification has been published inviting applications from eligible Scheduled Tribe girls from six districts of Chhattisgarh.
Implemented under NMDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, the programme provides 110 seats for B.Sc. Nursing and 90 seats for General Nursing and Midwifery. Selected candidates will receive completely free professional nursing education, with NMDC bearing the entire cost of tuition fees, hostel accommodation, study materials, uniforms, examination fees and other academic expenses.
The programme is exclusively open to ST girls from Bastar, Dantewada, Sukma, Bijapur, Kondagaon and Narayanpur districts belonging to families with an annual income not exceeding ₹72,000. Applicants must be between 17 and 35 years of age. Candidates seeking admission to the B.Sc. Nursing programme must have qualified NEET-2026, while applicants for both B.Sc. Nursing and GNM courses must have passed Class XII with Science and English, securing the prescribed minimum qualifying marks.
Selected students will pursue their nursing education at premier institutions, including Apollo School of Nursing, Hyderabad; Apollo College of Nursing, Chittoor; SRM College of Nursing, Chennai; KIMS College of Nursing, Hyderabad; and Yashoda College of Nursing, Hyderabad. The initiative aims to equip tribal girls with professional healthcare skills..
Eligible candidates can submit their applications online only through the Careers section of the NMDC website from 11:00 AM on July 22, 2026, to 11:59 PM on August 5, 2026. Applicants must upload scanned copies of all required documents, including Class X and XII marksheets, ST caste certificate, income certificate, domicile certificate, Aadhaar or ration card, passport-size photograph, signature, and the NEET-2026 scorecard for B.Sc. Nursing applicants.
Selection will be based on a written examination comprising objective-type multiple-choice questions conducted in English using an OMR sheet in offline mode. The 30-mark examination will include Biology , English , Physics , Chemistry , and General Knowledge . Candidates shortlisted in the written examination will undergo document verification and a medical examination before final selection. Preference will be given to eligible applicants residing in areas surrounding NMDC’s project locations.
Since its inception, the programme has enrolled 330 GNM students till FY 22, with 230 graduates joining government healthcare institutions in Chhattisgarh. Additionally, 75 tribal girls have received fully sponsored B.Sc. Nursing education, with nearly 80% returning to serve in the state’s healthcare sector. NMDC invests up to ₹12 lakh per student per year, covering all educational and hostel expenses to make quality nursing education accessible to tribal girls.