₹36,000 a Year: PM Scholarship 2026-27 Closes on October 31 for Defence and Police Families

If your parent served in the armed forces, CAPF, police, or railway protection forces, you have until October 31, 2026 to apply for the Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme (PMSS) 2026-27. Girls get ₹3,000 a month and boys get ₹2,500, paid in one yearly instalment.

October 31 is the last date on the National Scholarship Portal

Three of the four PMSS routes run through the National Scholarship Portal. These are the CAPF and Assam Rifles route, the State and UT police route, and the Railways route. The application window opened on June 1, 2026, and it closes for fresh student applications on October 31, 2026.

After that, your college verifies the application by November 15, and the district or ministry level checks close on November 30. If your form has a defect, you also get until November 15 to fix it. The fourth route, for ex-servicemen wards, runs on the Kendriya Sainik Board website, so check that portal for its own window.

Picking the wrong route is the most common mistake students make. Your parent’s service decides which form you fill, and you cannot switch later.

One scheme, four routes. Find yours first.

PMSS is not a single form. It runs as four separate routes, each with its own seats and portal:

• Ex-servicemen wards (Army, Navy, Air Force): apply on the KSB website. About 5,500 fresh scholarships a year, split between 2,750 boys and 2,750 girls.
• CAPF and Assam Rifles wards: apply on the NSP. About 2,000 fresh scholarships a year, split evenly between boys and girls.
• State and UT police wards: only for families of personnel martyred in terror or Naxal attacks. About 500 scholarships a year, applied for on the NSP.
• RPF and RPSF wards: the Railways route, about 150 scholarships a year, applied for on the NSP.

If you do not fit these family rules, do not file a PMSS form. The NMMSS scholarship also closes on October 31 and suits school students from low-income families. For a wider look, see our scholarships section.

₹36,000 for girls, ₹30,000 for boys. Paid once a year.

The money is the same across all four routes. Girls get ₹3,000 a month, which works out to ₹36,000 a year. Boys get ₹2,500 a month, or ₹30,000 a year. The full amount lands in your bank account in one instalment after selection, through direct transfer.

One warning: some websites show bigger figures, like ₹50,000 a year. Those numbers do not match the official guidelines. On the NSP routes, your bank account must be linked with Aadhaar. New students who make the list also receive a personal letter from the Prime Minister.

Who can actually apply

The family rule is the first filter. You must be the ward or widow of an ex-serviceman, CAPF or Assam Rifles personnel, a State or UT police martyr of terror or Naxal attacks, or RPF or RPSF personnel.

The marks rule is the second filter. You need at least 60 per cent in your minimum entry qualification. For MBBS or B.Tech, that means Class 12. Only two children per family can hold the scholarship at a time.

Your course is the third filter. PMSS pays only for a first professional degree. B.Tech, MBBS, BBA, BCA, B.Ed, and LLB are on the list, and MBA and MCA are the rare master’s courses allowed. Plain BA, B.Sc, or B.Com degrees do not qualify. Distance and correspondence courses are out too. Girl students in technical courses can also check the AICTE Pragati scholarship, which pays ₹50,000 a year and closes on the same date.

How to apply in five steps

• Step 1: Complete One-Time Registration (OTR) on the National Scholarship Portal. Without OTR, you cannot file the application.
• Step 2: Log in, choose “Apply for Scholarship,” and select the PMSS route that matches your parent’s service.
• Step 3: Fill in your personal details, academic records, and service details of the parent.
• Step 4: Upload scanned documents: Aadhaar, the entry-qualification marksheet, service or discharge certificate of the parent, bank passbook, and a bonafide certificate from your college.
• Step 5: Submit before October 31 and save the acknowledgement slip.

After submission, the portal tracks three stages: institute verification by November 15, then district and ministry level checks by November 30. You can follow your status on the same NSP site using your OTR login.

A 2026-27 change worth knowing

Under the revised guidelines for this year, PMSS counts as a merit-based scholarship. That means a PMSS holder can also take one welfare-based scholarship alongside it, if they qualify. Earlier, many students believed one government scholarship ruled out another. For this scheme, that is not true anymore.