PM Scholarship CAPF & Assam Rifles: Rs 3,000 a Month

PM Scholarship for CAPF & Assam Rifles 2026–27: Rs. 3,000 a month for girls, Rs. 2,500 for boys — if your parent wore the uniform

If one of your parents serves — or served — in a Central Armed Police Force or the Assam Rifles, there is a scholarship with your family's name on its purpose. The Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme (PMSS) for wards and widows of CAPFs and Assam Rifles personnel supports dependent children (and widows pursuing a first professional degree) through professional and technical courses, paying Rs. 3,000 per month for girls and Rs. 2,500 per month for boys. Applications for 2026–27 are made on the National Scholarship Portal, and the student deadline is 31 October 2026. What follows is the full picture: who qualifies, how the limited seats are actually allotted, and the mistakes that quietly kill applications.

Who runs it, and how many seats exist

PMSS has run since 2006–07. The CAPF and Assam Rifles route is administered by the Welfare and Rehabilitation Board (WARB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs — not by the Defence Ministry, which runs the separate ex-servicemen's route through the Kendriya Sainik Board. The CAPFs covered are the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and NSG, together with the Assam Rifles.

The scheme makes 2,000 fresh awards every year — exactly 1,000 for boys and 1,000 for girls — over and above renewals from previous years. The split is rigid: seats unused by one group do not move to the other. With lakhs of CAPF families and only 2,000 fresh awards, this is a competitive, merit-and-priority selection, not an entitlement that follows automatically from eligibility.

Who is eligible

• Relationship: you must be a dependent ward or widow of a CAPF or Assam Rifles personnel. Unlike the State-police route, this route is not restricted to martyrs' families — wards of serving and retired personnel can also be eligible, though they rank lower in the priority order below.
• Course: a first professional degree course at an institution recognised by the relevant regulatory body — BE/B.Tech, MBBS and other medical courses, Dental, Veterinary, B.Pharm, B.Sc. Nursing, B.Sc. Agriculture, BBA, BCA, MBA, MCA and similar courses on the guidelines' approved list. Diploma, certificate and distance programmes are not covered, and lateral-entry and integrated-course cases follow the specific rules in the guidelines.
• Timing: fresh applications are made in the first year of the course.
• Marks: fresh applicants need at least 60% marks in the minimum educational qualification for their course (Class 12, diploma or graduation, as applicable).
• No income ceiling: PMSS does not impose a family income limit — a deliberate design choice for a service-linked scheme.
• Renewals: continuing scholars must apply for renewal on NSP each year and have secured at least 50% marks in the previous academic year.
• Family cap: benefits are limited to two children per family.

How selection actually works: the priority order

Because applications exceed seats, WARB selects by a published priority hierarchy that puts the hardest-hit families first:

• Wards/widows of CAPF/AR personnel killed in action
• Wards of ex-CAPF/AR personnel who are gallantry awardees
• Wards/widows of personnel who died in harness
• Wards of personnel disabled in action
• Wards/widows of deceased personnel whose death was attributable to service
• Wards of retired CAPF/AR personnel
• Wards of serving CAPF/AR personnel (PBOR)

Within a category, the qualifying-examination merit decides. This is why two applicants with identical marks can have different outcomes — and why the documents proving your category (death/disability certificate, gallantry award citation, PPO, service records) are the heart of the application, not an attachment to it.

What it pays

The amount is Rs. 3,000 per month for girls (Rs. 36,000 a year) and Rs. 2,500 per month for boys (Rs. 30,000 a year), disbursed once a year by Direct Benefit Transfer into the student's bank account, after verifications are complete. The scholarship runs for the approved course duration, up to five years, subject to renewal each year. The bank account must be in the student's name and Aadhaar-linked; minor accounts need to be converted before payment.

How to apply for 2026–27

• Visit scholarships.gov.in and complete the One-Time Registration (OTR) with Aadhaar if you are a first-time NSP user.
• Log in, go to the Ministry of Home Affairs schemes, and choose the Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme for CAPF and Assam Rifles.
• Open and read the scheme guidelines PDF on the listing — the approved course list, the priority categories and the document specifications are all there.
• Fill the form: your details, the parent's force and service particulars, your course and institution, and bank details. Make sure the force and category you select match your documents.
• Upload the documents below in clear scans within the portal's size limits.
• Submit before 31 October 2026 and save the application ID and final copy.
• Track the verification chain on your NSP dashboard: institute verification → district/state scrutiny → WARB/ministry approval. If your institute returns the application, correct and resubmit immediately.

Documents you will need

• Proof of the parent's service and your category: service certificate/PPO, and as applicable the death certificate, disability certificate, or gallantry award certificate.
• Proof of relationship with the personnel.
• Qualifying-examination marksheet (Class 12/diploma/graduation) showing at least 60% for fresh applicants.
• Bonafide certificate, admission proof and fee receipt from your institution for 2026–27.
• Aadhaar card, bank passbook details, and a passport-size photograph.
• For widows applying: marriage certificate and dependency proof as specified in the guidelines.
• For renewals: the previous year's marksheet showing at least 50%.

Common mistakes

• Wrong route. Wards of Army/Navy/Air Force ex-servicemen do not belong here — that route is on the KSB portal. A parent in a State police force belongs to the State/UT police route, not this one.
• Treating the monthly figure as monthly payment. It is paid as one annual instalment; budget accordingly.
• Weak category documents. If you claim a higher priority category, the certificate proving it must be uploaded and legible. Unproven claims are verified down or rejected.
• Applying after the first year as a fresh applicant. PMSS fresh entry is a first-year benefit.
• Missing the verification follow-through. Submission by 31 October is only step one; institute verification happens afterwards, and an application the institute never verifies is an application that never existed.

If your parent serves or served in the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, NSG or Assam Rifles and you are entering a professional degree this year, file before 31 October 2026 — and keep checking your NSP dashboard until the verification chain, not just the form, is complete.

Related guides on StudyDesk