Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Financial Assistance Scheme, Puducherry 2026‑27

The Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Financial Assistance Scheme, known as PKFAS, is a Puducherry government scheme for students who join professional courses through the CENTAC admission process. The Directorate of Higher and Technical Education (DHTE) runs it. It pays the tuition of eligible students in unaided private colleges, up to a fixed maximum for each course.

The scheme exists to keep money from stopping capable students in medical, engineering or nursing study. The DHTE website lists the scheme under its programmes and schemes menu.

What you get

The DHTE summary sheet gives one fixed amount for each course. The sheet is undated, so check the rate with the college office before you pay fees.

The ceilings for medical and engineering are set per student for each year. Medical tuition is capped at Rs. 2,25,000 per student per annum, and engineering tuition at Rs. 25,000. The payment follows the college fee fixed by the fee committee, up to that ceiling. The rates also match recent sanction orders. A 2024-25 order allows Rs. 2,10,00,000 for 840 fourth-year B.Tech students, which works out to Rs. 25,000 each. A 2023-24 order allows Rs. 10,24,000 for 128 fourth-year B.Sc Nursing students, which works out to Rs. 8,000 each.

Who can apply

• Indian citizens who are residents of Puducherry. The candidate must be an Indian citizen and a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Students selected through CENTAC for a medical, engineering or B.Sc Nursing course in an unaided private institution. The scheme covers students selected through CENTAC who study these courses in unaided private institutions.
• Students who passed the qualifying exam in one attempt. Candidates must have cleared the qualifying examination on the first try.
• First-year students of medical and engineering courses. Lateral entry engineering students become eligible from the second year onward.

Students who cannot apply include:

• Full-time employees, unless they resign or take leave without pay for the whole course. A person in full-time employment is not eligible, but may qualify if they give up the job or take unpaid leave for the entire course.
• Part-time, private, unrecognised or correspondence course students. Students who study part-time, privately, in an unrecognised institution or by correspondence are not eligible.
• Students who receive another regular scholarship or stipend. A recipient cannot take any other regular scholarship or stipend.
• Medical students during internship. No assistance is paid during the internship period for medical students.

The 2011 order gave awards without considering parental annual income from all sources. The official sources I read set no family income limit, and they do not publish an age limit. For SC students, the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department gives separate help under a Special Component Plan.

How to apply

The official sources I read do not describe an online application process. These are the steps they support:

1. Get admitted through CENTAC to an eligible course.
2. DHTE calls for applications in the prescribed form from eligible students, in the first year of medical or engineering study, and in the second year for lateral entry.
3. Check the DHTE website for the call and the application form. Go to the DHTE website.
4. Fill the prescribed form, attach the documents listed below, and submit it as the notice says.

Documents you need

The DHTE application form asks for these papers. The form is undated, so confirm the list when the call opens.

• A copy of the CENTAC selection order. The form asks whether the CENTAC selection order is enclosed.
• A self affidavit on stamped paper.
• An income affidavit. The family income counts the father, the mother and the scholar only. If a parent has died, that parent’s income is left out, and if both have died, only the scholar’s own income is shown.
• An attested copy of the last board or university mark sheet, and a community, nationality and residence certificate. These are listed among the attachments for the application.
• A caste certificate for SC, ST, OBC or MBC students. The form asks for a caste certificate for SC, ST, OBC or MBC applicants.
• A +2 mark list.

If the income declaration is found to be false, the applicant must refund double the amount paid.

How students are selected

DHTE gets the list of CENTAC admits from each college and scrutinises their applications before it names the eligible students.

Renewal

• Aid renews each year if you move up to the next class and secure 50% or more in aggregate. Marks of 49.5% are rounded up to 50%.
• If you score below 50% in the promotional exam, aid is suspended for that year and restored once you reach the standard in the next annual exam.
• The head of the college sends an annual progress report to DHTE within a month after results are announced.
• Aid is cancelled if you fail the promotional exam and cannot take a supplementary exam, or if you change course without prior approval from DHTE.
• A student who moves from engineering to medicine gets the medical rate, minus the aid already received.

Important dates

The DHTE news page lists award notices for the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 batches, the latest dated 24 February 2026. The official sources I read do not give a 2026-27 application window or last date. Check the DHTE website for the next call.

The main rules on this page come from a 2011 order, which applied to students admitted from 2011-12 to 2013-14. The order said a new scheme would be devised from the academic year 2014-15 onwards. I could not open the department’s latest rules page, so confirm the current rules with DHTE before you apply.