After the second round of counseling which concluded here on Tuesday, 3193 seats have been filled in various technical and general courses under the Prime Minister's Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for J&K students.The counseling was simultaneously held at the designated Centres including Amar Singh College, Srinagar, Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu and Government Eliezer Joldan Memorial College, Leh.According to a notification issued by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), while all the seats have been filled under un-reserved quota, 237 seats have remained unfilled in reserved categories. The unfilled seats include 224 in technical courses including engineering, hotel management, pharmacy, nursing and architecture and 13 seats in general courses.The filled seats include 2606 in engineering, 487 in general courses and 100 in medical and dental courses.
Education Minister, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said he will take up the issue of converting unfilled reserved category seats into un-reserved seats with AICTE so that no seat under PMSSS goes unfilled this year as well and maximum number of students are able to benefit from the flagship scheme. He hailed the AICTE authorities for ensuring effective and hassle-free implementation of the pioneering scholarship scheme for J&K students which has already benefitted thousands of youth facilitating them to go for higher studies in the institutions of repute outside the State.Under PMSSS scholarship to J&K students upto Rs 30000 per annum per student is available for general courses, upto Rs 1.25 lakh per annum per student for engineering courses and upto Rs 3 lakh per annum per student for medical/dental courses. Besides, every student is entitled upto Rs 1 lakh per annum as maintenance charges.