Parvaaz — Free Coaching Scheme for Youth of J&K

What is the Parvaaz scheme?

Parvaaz is the free coaching scheme of Mission Youth, Jammu and Kashmir, an initiative of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme guidelines, published on the Mission Youth portal, describe Parvaaz as a programme to "provide financial support to the eligible candidates for coaching courses of competitive examinations". In practice, Mission Youth pays the coaching fee of a selected student directly to an empanelled coaching institute, so the student attends a professional coaching course without paying for it.

Parvaaz; spelled Parwaaz in some local usage, was cleared by the Finance Department of Jammu and Kashmir in July 2021, with the department conveying concurrence to the draft guidelines and asking Mission Youth to focus on the outcome of the scheme. Mission Youth then issued the 13-page scheme guidelines that still govern the programme.

The stated objective is narrow and specific: to sponsor coaching for competitive examinations for recruitment conducted by the UPSC and the JKPSC, and other examinations of a similar nature as may be decided by the Chief Executive Officer, Mission Youth from time to time.

Parvaaz is one of a family of Mission Youth livelihood and empowerment schemes that includes Mumkin, Rise Together, Tejaswani, Spurring Entrepreneurship Initiative and Young Innovators. Parvaaz differs from the rest in that the money never reaches the candidate, it reaches the institute that teaches the candidate.

Who is eligible for the Parvaaz scheme?

Parvaaz has two sets of eligibility conditions: one for students, and one for coaching institutions that want to be empanelled.

Students who can be considered:

• Candidates who have secured the requisite percentage of marks in the qualifying examination prescribed for admission into the desired recruitment examination.
• Candidates whose total family income from all sources does not exceed Rs 8 lakh per annum.
• Candidates who clear the Parvaaz Qualifying Test (PQT), the competitive selection process laid down in the guidelines.
• Girl candidates, for whom 30 per cent of the sanctioned coaching seats are earmarked.

Students who cannot apply or are not eligible:

• Anyone whose family income from all sources exceeds Rs 8 lakh a year.
• Anyone who has already availed free coaching under any government scheme — the guidelines rule such students out of the present scheme entirely.
• Anyone who has already taken the Parvaaz benefit once. The guidelines state the benefit can be availed only once by a particular student, irrespective of the number of attempts he or she is entitled to in that examination.
• Candidates who cannot produce the qualifying marks required for the target recruitment examination.

Two further rules shape who ends up in a batch. Candidates who have already qualified the Prelims of the examination for which the scholarship is being sought receive an additional weightage of 10 per cent in the PQT. Separately, the Chairman of the Governing Body, Mission Youth holds a discretionary quota of up to 10 per cent of the total intake for a particular year.

Institutions eligible for empanelment are government-sector institutes, universities and colleges engaged in professional coaching; private-sector universities and colleges including deemed universities; trusts, companies, partnership firms or societies registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and engaged in professional coaching; and coaching institutes for competitive examinations registered under the relevant statutes. An institute must have been fully functional for at least three years with a minimum enrolment of 100 students in the relevant courses in each of those three years, must have qualified faculty and adequate infrastructure, must never have been declared bankrupt, and must never have been blacklisted by any government department or body.

How much does Parvaaz pay, and to whom?

Mission Youth funds only the coaching fee of selected students, paid as per the terms of the scheme. The guidelines are explicit that the financial assistance does not include boarding or lodging expenses: students finance that component themselves.

The intake of students and the quantum of coaching assistance in any year depend on the budgetary component approved by the Governing Body of Mission Youth, so there is no fixed per-student rupee cap published in the guidelines.

Payment to the empanelled institute runs in three instalments every year:

Institutes are empanelled for two years, or for the period the scheme continues, whichever is earlier. After the first year, an institute's performance is assessed before funds are released for the next year: if the prescribed minimum success rate declines or is not achieved, the first instalment of the following year is reduced proportionately and no further allocation is made to that organisation.

How to apply for Parvaaz

1. Register with Mission Youth on the official portal at missionyouth.jk.gov.in. Mission Youth schemes require applicants to be registered on its platform before a scheme application is accepted.
2. Watch the Schemes and What's New pages for the annual Parvaaz notification, which announces the courses, the empanelled institutes and the schedule of the Parvaaz Qualifying Test.
3. Submit your application with your income certificate, domicile certificate, the marksheet of your qualifying examination, identity proof and bank account details.
4. Appear for the Parvaaz Qualifying Test (PQT) on the notified date. If you have already cleared the Prelims of the examination you are targeting, claim the 10 per cent additional weightage at this stage with documentary proof.
5. Check the selection list published by Mission Youth and report to the empanelled coaching institute allotted to you.
6. Sign the affidavit at the institute confirming you have not taken free coaching earlier under this or any similar government-funded scheme, and complete the institute's admission record.
7. Attend every class. Absence of more than 15 days without valid reason, or leaving midway, results in the whole cost being recovered from the institute, and in practice, in your removal from the programme.

Coaching institutions apply separately: Mission Youth invites proposals in the proforma at Annexure I of the guidelines, and a designated committee screens every proposal, government or private, for empanelment.

How to check the status of a Parvaaz application

Parvaaz does not publish a standalone status-tracking dashboard. Applicants should track the scheme through three routes:

1. The What's New and Notifications sections of missionyouth.jk.gov.in, where PQT notifications, admit-card notices and selection lists are posted.
2. The Mission Youth helpline on 8447804864, or the email address missionyouthjk@gmail.com listed on the Mission Youth contact page.
3. The empanelled institute you have been allotted, which is required to maintain a Management Information System with the name, address, telephone number and email of every enrolled candidate and to furnish it to the CEO, Mission Youth.

Common reasons a Parvaaz application fails

• Income above the Rs 8 lakh ceiling, or an income certificate that does not cover income from all sources. This is the single hard financial bar in the scheme.
• Qualifying marks below the prescribed percentage for the target recruitment examination.
• Earlier benefit already taken under Parvaaz or another government free coaching scheme. The affidavit and the institute's records are checked against this.
• Not clearing the PQT. Parvaaz is a competitive selection, not a first-come-first-served scheme, and the number of seats depends on the budget approved for that year.
• Applying outside a notified cycle. Coaching batches are tied to the timetable of the entrance examinations, and the guidelines allow institutes to start subsequent-year programmes only after the previous year's accounts are settled.

What are the key dates and conditions?

Parvaaz does not run on a single fixed annual date. Mission Youth invites institute proposals and notifies the PQT as batches are planned around the calendar of the entrance examinations concerned. The guidelines add that after the first year, coaching in subsequent years may start "at the appropriate time keeping in view the date of the entrance examinations", and the first instalment for a subsequent year is released only after the previous year's accounts are settled.

Mid-term appraisal of the scheme is permitted, and the CEO, Mission Youth is competent to amend any provision of the scheme, including the implementation procedure. Physical inspection of a coaching programme may be conducted by officers of Mission Youth or other experts at any time.

Institutes that divert funds must refund the amount received with 10 per cent penal interest, and the money is recoverable as arrears of land revenue through the District Collector concerned.

Help and grievance redressal for Parvaaz

• Mission Youth helpline: 8447804864
• Email: missionyouthjk@gmail.com
• Online grievance: the Mission Youth website links to the Jammu and Kashmir grievance portal at jkgrievance.in for registering a formal complaint.
• Clarifications: the guidelines provide that any difficulty in implementation is resolved by the Office of the Chief Executive Officer, Mission Youth, Jammu and Kashmir.

Parvaaz costs a selected student nothing in coaching fees. No agent can charge a fee for "getting your name into Parvaaz", and any demand for money to secure a seat should be reported on the Mission Youth helpline.