JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Naeem Akhtar today said the state government is pursuing an increase in seats under the Prime Minister's Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) to benefit maximum number of students from the state.Speaking at an awareness workshop on PMSSS at Women's College, Gandhi Nagar here, the minister said with the sustained efforts of the state government, the flagship scholarship scheme which was earlier marred by various hiccups, is now attracting more and more students and last year around 3,500 students got admission in various colleges, including some of the prestigious institutions, outside the state under PMSSS."Fortunately, far less complaints have been received this year regarding the implementation of the scheme," he said.Pitching for increase in seats under PMSSS, the minister said this year more seats would be allocated for technical courses to help students pursue various job-oriented courses.Taking serious note of the complaints of the students about the problems in getting the due benefits after their admission, the state government took up the issue with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and other agencies and streamlined the implementation by isolating certain elements in the process.He said after the corrective measures by the state government in consultation with AICTE not only admission process has been streamlined but issues of students selected in initial areas have also been addressed to certain extent.Highlighting the objective of the scheme, the minister said that it provides path-breaking opportunity for the J&K students for capacity building, education, enabling and empowering them to compete in the routine academic courses, besides enhancing employment opportunities for them.A large number of students, college staff and representatives from AICTE attended the workshop, where resource persons sensitised the students about the scheme by highlighting its objectives.The minister also listed various initiatives taken by the state government to give a turn around to educational activities in the state, particularly in the backdrop of the unrest in Kashmir.He said it is for the first time that full-fledged winter academic activity is going on in Kashmir schools to revive the educational spirit among the students and compensate the loss due to the unrest last year.He said all the schools across Kashmir valley are open where classes are going on regularly."Over 1.10 lakh students are being benefited by the winter tuitions, winter camps and under the innovative Chief Minister's Super 50 coaching over 1,000 students are being prepared for NEET and other competitive tests," he added.

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