Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme for RPF

Introduction

Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme was introduced from the Academic year 2008-09 for RPF. It was introduced to encourage higher technical and professional education for the dependent wards of Ex/Serving RPF/RPSF personnel and widows (below the Rank of Gazetted officer)

Scholarship available

A total number of 150 students (from academic session 2015-16) have been earmarked to RPF for an academic session. Half of the scholarships are reserved for female candidates i.e. 75. Shortfall in fresh cases shall not be adjusted from girls/boys, if applicants (boys/girls) are available less than 75. It is also mentioned that un-allocated quota in any gender may not be utilized for other category (boys/girls).

Distribution of scholarship among Zonal Railways and RPSF will be as under

Eligible courses

Professional Degree Courses like BE, B.Tech, BDS, MBBS, BEd, BBS, BCA, MCA B. Pharma, etc. duly recognized by the respective Government Regulatory Bodies, such as All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India(MCI), University Grants Commission (UGC), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) etc. (Master Degree Courses are not eligible for PMSS except MBA, MCA). Detailed list of courses is enclosed as Annexure-I. Students studying abroad are not eligible for this scheme. No distance learning course is permitted under this scheme. PMSS can be availed for one course only.

Students eligible for the scholarship

Students who have taken regular admission in collges are only eligible for PMSS. Students should have secured 60% and above in Minimum Educational Qualification (MEQ) i.e. 12th Std., Diploma/Graduation.

The scholarship is admissible for only two wards per family and should be ensured by the beneficiaries as well as by the concerned zonal railways/RPSF.

Amount of scholarship

(a) The amount of scholarship would be as follows:

• Rs 2000/- per month for male students
• Rs 2250/- per month for female students

(b) The payment of scholarship will be granted after approval of the DG/RPF as per order of merit in each year.

Duration of the Scholarship

One to five years as per duration of course.

Order of preference

If the number of applications exceeds the number of available scholarships, the order of preference for allotment of scholarship will be as under

• Category (I): Wards/widows of ex-RPF/RPSF personnel who died in harness due to causes attributed to encounter with terrorist or with criminals while protecting Railway Property, Passengers and Passenger Area or those who die during election work.
• Category (II): Wards/Widows of ex-RPF/RPSF personnel who died while in service
• Category (III): Wards of ex-RPF/RPSF(retired) personnel.
• Category (IV): Wards of serving RPF/RPSF personnel.

Minimum eligibility qualification

At least 60% marks in MEQ for entry to various Professional Courses for the initial sanction of scholarship. MEQ for various courses are as under

How to apply

From the academic year 2017-18 onwards, the PMSS for RPF (Ministry of Railways) is being implemented through National Scholarship Portal. For this, all the eligible applicants need to apply online on the website www.scholarship.gov.in by 30th September every year. Final compiled list of eligible candidates will be prepared by Security Directorate, Railway Board by 20th October for onward submission to PMO.

Mobile number is mandatory to register on National Scholarships Portal on which One Time Password (OTP) will be received for further process. A maximum of two registrations may be made with a mobile number.

Documents Required

Following documents in the respective category are mandatorily required to be submitted/ uploaded by the applicant for applying under PMSS:

For Fresh Applicant:

• Service Certificate issued by respective offices of the serving personnel for category IV. (As per Annexure II).
• A copy of PPO/Discharge certificate/book for Categories I, II and III.
• Applicants are required to upload duly attested scanned copy of the mark-sheet/Grade card of MEQ i.e. 10+2/ Diploma/Graduation (as the case may be).

Renewal of Scholarship

The renewal of scholarship can be done by the applicant on the National Scholarship Portal using his application ID generated at the time of registration. Documents may be uploaded by the candidate which including a certificate from the College/Institute indicating the percentage of marks/ grade points obtained as well as indicating that the student is pursuing the course.

Disqualification

If a student granted scholarship on the basis of statement made in the application is at any subsequent date found to have made false information in any respect, all the remaining scholarship will forfeit and no application from the ex/serving RPF/window would be entertained in future. In addition, the amount paid would also have to be refunded.

Disbursal of scholarship

CSCs of zonal Railways will forward the nominations, after due verification at their end, to Sec(Special) Branch, Security Directorate, Rail Bhawan, Railway Board, New Delhi.

The Scholarship amount under PMSS from the academic year 2017-18 onwards for applicants selected under fresh and renewal categories would be credited/transferred directly into the Bank accounts of the selected applicants through Public Finance Management System (PFMS) under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Mission of the Government.

Submission of bank particulars including account number of nationalized bank by the applicant duly seeded with Aadhar Number is mandatory

Online Process Flow for Scholarship

• Applicants : Apply online on NSP and upload the requisite documents. On successful submission of application/documents, a system generated registration number sent to the applicant which can be used for future references.
• College/Institute/University : Verify all the requisite documents uploaded by the applicant from the record of College/Institute and recommended the same to the Security Directorate, Railway Board.
• Ministry of Railways (RPF Hqrs)
  
• Verify all the requisite documents uploaded by the applicant related with service certificate, dependent certificate, PPO/discharge book (I to IV category), Category claimed by the applicant as per order of preference and other eligibility criteria.
• Consolidate the information received from Colleges/Institutions and prepare merit list for fresh applicants according to quota allotted to each zonal Railways as per Annexure-I. In case there is vacancy in the quota of a zonal railway, it is filled up by excess candidates of other railways by preparing combined merit list. List of applicants selected under renewal category is also prepared.
• List of selected applicants along with bank particulars will be sent online to PFMS.
• Calculate total scholarship amount required to be sanctioned under PMSS and process for credit/ transfer of scholarship directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries through Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
• PFMS- Validate bank accounts of the selected applicants from respective bank and credit/transfer of scholarship directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries.
• Ministry of Railways-Process for payment of scholarship from PMO.

For this listed college/institute/university, RPF(Ministry of Railways) will be given a login ID & Password for logging on to the online system in order to scrutinize the received application and verify the requisite documents uploaded by the applicants for sanction, payment and tracking of scholarship by all the stake holders under PMSS.

Schedule of activities (For Fresh & Renewal Scholarship)

Source: PMSS