Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme (PMSS)

What is the Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme?

The Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme (PMSS) is a Ministry of Defence scholarship administered by the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) under the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare. PMSS was introduced in the academic year 2006-07 to encourage higher technical and professional education among the dependent wards of ex-servicemen and ex-Coast Guard personnel and their widows.

According to the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, PMSS is funded from the National Defence Fund and pays 5,500 scholarships every year, split equally between 2,750 boys and 2,750 girls. Payments are made by electronic fund transfer directly into the student's Aadhaar-linked bank account.

Main features

• Rs 30,000 a year for boys (Rs 2,500 per month) and Rs 36,000 a year for girls (Rs 3,000 per month).
• Paid for the full duration of the course, two to five years, except one year for B Ed.
• Selection is on the basis of the ex-serviceman's category first and then marks in the Minimum Educational Qualification.
• Applications are accepted online only at online.ksb.gov.in: no paper application is entertained.

Who is eligible for PMSS?

You can apply if:

• You are a dependent ward or widow of an ex-serviceman or ex-Coast Guard personnel.
• You have taken admission in the first year of the current academic year in an eligible professional or technical course.
• You scored 60 per cent or more in your Minimum Educational Qualification to 10+2, diploma or graduation, depending on the course you have joined.
• Your course is recognised by AICTE, the National Medical Commission, the UGC or another relevant government regulatory body.
• You are the widow of an ex-serviceman or ex-Coast Guard personnel; widows are eligible until re-marriage.

You cannot apply if:

• You are a ward of a civilian, including paramilitary personnel. The KSB brochure states this category is not eligible.
• You are studying in the second or a subsequent year of your course. Only first-year admissions of the current academic year qualify, and lateral entry is excluded from the fresh-application route.
• You are studying abroad, PMSS is only for study in India.
• Your course is a vocational course or a distance-learning course. Neither is permitted under PMSS.
• You are enrolled in a university declared fake by the UGC. Applications from such universities are neither entertained by KSB nor recommended by Zila or Rashtriya Sainik Boards.
• You are pursuing a master's degree other than MBA or MCA: all other post-graduate courses are excluded.
• You are a third or later ward of the same ex-serviceman. The scholarship is admissible for a maximum of two wards per ex-serviceman.
• You already hold another scholarship or financial assistance whose total, combined with PMSS, would exceed the PMSS amount.

What are the PMSS priority categories?

Selection is made in category order first, and within a category by MEQ percentage. The Kendriya Sainik Board brochure lists the order of preference as:

Categories 1 to 5 apply irrespective of rank. Category 6, which covers all other ex-servicemen, is limited to Personnel Below Officer Rank.

What documents are required for PMSS?

Every one of these must be scanned from the original and uploaded. The KSB brochure is explicit that failure to upload any of them in original leads to rejection.

How to apply for PMSS online

1. Visit the Kendriya Sainik Board portal at online.ksb.gov.in and open the PMSS tab. Applications are accepted online only.
2. Download the Annexures — the ESM certificate, the Bonafide Certificate and the bank Aadhaar-seeding certificate, from the PMSS tab.
3. Get Annexure-1 signed by your Zila Sainik Board or, for Coast Guard families, by Coast Guard Headquarters.
4. Get Annexure-2 signed by your college: Vice Chancellor, Principal, Vice Principal, Dean, Associate Dean, Registrar, Deputy Registrar, Director or Deputy Director.
5. Get Annexure-3 signed by your bank, certifying that your Aadhaar is linked to your account. Open the account in a nationalised bank with Core Banking, preferably SBI or PNB, and convert a minor account into a major account or make it a joint account with a parent.
6. Register on the portal and fill in the online application form. One candidate may apply for one course only.
7. Scan and upload all originals, Annexures 1 to 3, matriculation certificate, MEQ marksheet, passbook first page, Aadhaar and category proof.
8. Submit the application by 30 November as per the KSB brochure timeline, without waiting for the last date. Apply as soon as you take admission.
9. Track the application as your Zila Sainik Board verifies it within five working days and forwards it to the Rashtriya Sainik Board, which recommends it to KSB.
10. Check the merit list published on online.ksb.gov.in. If your application is placed "under observation", rectify the flagged defect immediately, unrectified applications are rejected.

How is the PMSS scholarship paid and renewed?

The first year's amount is remitted immediately after selection in the merit list of 5,500 candidates. Every subsequent payment requires the student to file an online Payment-cum-Renewal Form together with a fresh Bonafide Certificate, the marksheets of both semesters of the completed year, and the first page of the bank passbook.

Two conditions govern renewal:

• A minimum of 50 per cent marks in each semester or academic year.
• Passing every subject in the first attempt. Failure or re-appearance in any subject closes the scholarship permanently.

Renewal documents must be submitted within one year of completing the academic year. After that window the scholarship is closed.

For integrated courses, the MEQ is 10+2 and the scholarship is paid for the full duration of the course, excluding the internship period.

Common reasons PMSS applications are rejected

• Documents not uploaded in original; scanned photocopies or attested copies instead of scanned originals.
• MEQ below 60 per cent, including cases where the applicant calculated the percentage on best subjects instead of all subjects appeared in.
• CGPA marksheet without the university conversion formula attached.
• Handwritten bank passbook details or a passbook page that does not clearly show the name, account number and IFSC.
• Aadhaar not seeded to the bank account, which stops the electronic transfer even after selection.
• Applying in the second or later year of the course, or as a lateral entry fresh applicant.
• Third ward of the same ex-serviceman applying when two have already been sanctioned.
• Wrong or incomplete category proof, for example a gallantry award certificate without the Gazette notification.

The KSB brochure also warns that a candidature secured through a false statement or misrepresentation stands automatically rejected at any stage, the entire amount paid must be refunded, and criminal proceedings may follow. Scholarship paid in error is recovered as and when detected.

Help and contact

• Kendriya Sainik Board PMSS cell: jdpmssksb-mod@gov.in
• Portal: online.ksb.gov.in
• Address: Kendriya Sainik Board, West Block-IV, Wing-VII, 2nd Floor, R K Puram, New Delhi 110066
• Zila Sainik Board in your district for Annexure-1 and first-stage verification

Any change of address, course or college must be intimated to the Kendriya Sainik Board in writing, quoting the Selection Number, the applicant's name and the ex-serviceman's particulars. Applying for PMSS is free and no agent is required.