Modi government extends Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme for J&K students by another five years

Srinagar, May 28: Centre has extended the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for Jammu and Kashmir students for another five years.

Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) was introduced by the UPA government in 2011 to provide funding to 5,000 meritorious students each year to study in private and government educational institutions across the country.

Aimed at promoting employment opportunities for students from J&K and Ladakh, the scheme, with an annual budget of ₹180-₹190 crore, is implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

The Hindu reported that there was a substantial increase in the number of applications in 2020-21 and 2021-22, following a dip in 2018-19 and 2019-20. The rise was recorded after J&K’s special status granted under Article 370 of the Constitution was revoked by Parliament in August 2019.

The term of the scheme was due to end last year, but the Centre decided to extend it for another five years for the benefit of students.

The scheme offers 4,500 seats for general education courses (Bachelor’s in Arts, Commerce, and Science), and 250 seats each for engineering and medical degrees. While the scholarship offered for general education courses is ₹1.3 lakh, including a ₹1 lakh maintenance fee to cover hostel and mess charges, it is ₹2.25 lakh for engineering and ₹4 lakh for medical degrees. 

 In the past six years, the 250 allotted medical seats were not filled. In 2020-21, only 113 students joined the medical stream through the PMSSS. In 2019-20, only 95 students opted for medicine under the scheme. 

While there were 25,970 and 24,455 applicants for the scholarship in 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively, and 23,234 and 22,538 of them met the eligibility criteria, only 4,780 and 4,095 students finally joined colleges under the scheme.