PM scholarship scheme: SC extends admission deadline till Sept 15 for J-K students

In a relief to thousands of Jammu and Kashmir students selected for a special scholarship scheme, the Supreme Court on Friday extended by a month the deadline for taking admission in various engineering colleges due to situations prevailing in the state after abrogation of its special status.

The Jammu and Kashmir government said that counselling by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was completed on July 30 and the students selected for Prime Minister Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) were supposed to take admissions by August 15, but many were unable to join the colleges due to restrictions imposed in the state after revocation of its special status.

A bench of Justices U U Lalit and R Subhash Reddy agreed with the contention and said that due to circumstances and situation prevailing in the state, the deadline for admission needs to be extended till September 15.

The PMSSS was launched by the Centre during 2010-11 to encourage J-K students. It provides scholarship to deserving candidates to meet the expenditure towards tuition fees, hostel fees, cost of books and other incidental charges while studying across the country in various engineering and regular courses.

"Due to recent developments and peculiar situation in Jammu and Kashmir, a request is made that the last date shall be extended till September 15. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has no objection to the prayer made. We allow the application and last date for selected PMSSS students stands extended till September 15, 2019," the bench said.

At the outset, J-K state standing counsel Shoeb Alam said they were seeking extension as around 2,401 PMSSS students were not able to take admission in different engineering colleges across the country due to the prevailing situations.

He said that as per the figures available, 3,672 students have availed the benefits of scholarship for admissions in the allotted institutions.

Alam said although the figure of students reported to have taken admission was 3,672, due to restrictions many may not have been able to make it to their colleges before the cut off dates and hence relief needs to be granted for them also.

The court agreed with the request of Alam and said that besides the 2,401 students, any other candidates selected under PMSSS who have not yet joined the respective engineering college due to the curbs and the prevailing situation, the last date of joining is extended till September 15 for them also.

On August 9, the apex court had agreed to hear the state government's plea seeking extension of August 15 deadline for admissions of selected PMSSS students.