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50% jump in number of J&K students awarded PM’s Special Scholarships
Each scholarship entails annual monetary support of up to Rs 90,000 for hostel fees, Rs 10,000 for incidentals and stationery, and anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 3 lakh for the tuition fee
Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for students from Jammu and Kashmir to pursue higher education outside the state has gone up by 50% compared to last year, human resource development (HRD) ministry officials have said.
About 3,420 students benefited from the scheme this year, up by 1,220 from 2,200 last year.
“The rise in number is because of various efforts made the Centre, including streamlining and popularising the scheme. There is greater transparency in the scheme as the tuition fee is transferred to institutes directly so that when the student approaches a college for admission, the college will not insist on depositing academic fees,” a senior HRD official said.
The special scholarship scheme for J&K was launched in 2011 to provide opportunities to students for pursuing higher education outside the state. Each scholarship entails annual monetary support of up to Rs 90,000 for hostel fees, Rs 10,000 for incidentals and stationery, and anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 3 lakh for the tuition fee. Officials said that 5,000 new scholarships every year for general, engineering and medical studies are awarded by the government
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which is the regulatory body for higher education, has been given the task of implementing the award of scholarships to candidates from the restive state.
