How PMSSS is Changing Students’ Fates 

Students with a domicile of Jammu and Kashmir have been given a new opportunity to learn by the present Union Government. The Ministry of Human Resource and Development, in conjunction with the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), has released the notification for PMSSS. Elaborated as the Prime Minister Special Scholarship Scheme, this meritorious advantage is only for the students in the special territory.

Eligibility criteria for PMSSS scholarship

Here is how students are considered eligible for the coveted scholarship:

1. The student has to compulsorily be a domicile of J&K
2. Student needs to have passed 10+2 from either J&K Board or from a CBSE school located in the region.
3. Only students with family income lesser than INR 8 lakhs are eligible for this scholarship

There is no need to sit for any qualification exam for this scholarship. An exception here is for students to take admission in undergraduate Architecture courses. For this purpose, they must qualify through the NATA (National Aptitude Test in Architecture) exam and register themselves using PMSSS. All candidate documents have to be verified with the Facilitation Center

Criteria that prevent a student from being eligible are as follows:

1. The course is being offered by an Open University
2. Application has not been filed through the AICTE website
3. Benefits from other non Government/Government scheme are already being availed at present
4. The candidate is already part of a Diploma/ Post Graduate program
5. The candidate does not turn up for the counseling session
6. Admission is being done through NGO’s or agents

How to apply?

One has to first log on to the AICTE website for this scholarship. On the site, steps with respect to “Online registration for scholarship” can be found, where an online application form will be present.  Both photo and signature have to be available in suitable picture format, and each file should not be more than 2 MB in size.

After the registration is complete, the student will need to take a printout of the completed application form. This printout has to be carried for verification to the nearest Facilitation Center. Carry original documents, along with a complete self-attested set of photocopies of all original documents. The list of all available Facilitation Centers in J&K and Ladakh is available on the AICTE website.

Become eligible outside the domicile territory

PMSSS is a major gateway for students to be able to support themselves while studying outside J&K. Its objective is to prevent the students from missing out on high-quality education in different parts of the country. 5000 PMSSS scholarships are issued every year.

Benefits of PMSSS

1. The fees, paid by the Government of India, are directly deposited into the institute’s financial account. It covers the complete maintenance and course fees of an eligible student.
2. The student’s education does not suffer and thereby helps him or her built a strong career. It does not let money be a criterion in determining the child’s future.
3. There is no need for the candidate to physically visit the college
4. The student gets the maintenance fees from the institute in installments suitable for purchasing books, mess charges, and hostel feels.

More seats are being made available

Students from J&K have received additional seats for Hotel Management and Paramedical degree courses. Additionally, 6 seats from ISRO for degree courses, in space, technology, and science have also been made available under PMSSS. This is open to students of both J&K and Ladakh.

How many courses are available for the academic year 2020-21?

A total of 109 courses are available for eligible students this year. These courses are available in the following fields:

1. Architecture
2. Management
3. Engineering and Technical
4. Agriculture & Fishery
5. Applied Arts and Crafts
6. Aviation
7. Medical
8. Computer/Statistics/Electronics
9. Teachers/Training
10. Journalism/Media/Mass Communication
11. Law

Apart from degrees in these fields, the other degrees belong to Integrated Courses. In these Dual Degree courses, the 1^st degree is nonprofessional and the other is professional.  It is only the Professional component that gets the scholarship. However, there are also degrees in which both are Professional, in which case the first component will be covered.

Greater number of PMSSS applications in 2020-21

AICTE has been instrumental in offering monetary to several girl students in the country, along with various scholarships for Masters Students, differently-abled students, and researchers. Despite PMSSS being for both non-technical and technical courses, it is also being managed by AICTE. This fully-funded scholarship was originally launched in the 2011-12 academic year. The scheme has seen a major spike in the total number of applications over the year.

For 2020-21, more than 22,000 students have registered for PMSS and more than 18,000 of them have submitted applications. As per the exact AICTE data, 18,852 students registered in 2020-21, 14,417 in the year 2019-20, and 14,403 students in the year 2018-19.