CHENNAI: Girl students from government schools will get 1,000 a month on joining undergraduate courses or diploma courses, Tamil Nadu government has announced. About six lakh girl students will benefit every year under the scheme, for which 698 crore has been allotted in this budget.
“All girl students who studied from Classes IV to XII in government schools will be paid 1,000 per month directly into their bank accounts till their uninterrupted completion of their undergraduate degree, diploma and ITI courses. The students will be eligible for this dole in addition to other scholarships,” Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said while presenting his budget on Friday.
The government would also bear the cost of undergraduate education of government school students if they join premier institutions like IITs, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS).
Finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Marriage Assistance Scheme is being transformed as the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance Scheme in line with the changing times.The new scheme is being launched recognising that the enrolment rate of girl students from government schools in higher education is very low.
The original marriage assistance scheme was started in 1989 by former chief minister M Karunanidhi to promote education and support the marriage of girls from poor families. Under the scheme, Rs 25,000 and eight gram gold coins used to be distributed for girls who completed Class X. Those girls who completed their degree used to get Rs 50,000 and eight gram gold coins.
“The new scheme is more important to the empowerment of women than the earlier scheme which simply gave money to marriage. Empowering women through education is a welcome step,” said Advocate Sudha Ramalingam.
“Education not only empowers women, but it will empower the entire society,” she added.
Activists said it would prevent the dropouts among the girl children in schools.
A Devaneyan, a child rights activist, said, the enrolment in government schools would go up and dropout among girl children would come down considerably, as most students would complete their school education. “The direct benefit transfer would bring down the corruption and interruptions in this scheme. Girl children will view it as their scheme as they receive money directly,” he added.
IIT-Madras director V Kamakoti welcomed the announcement that the state government would fund undergraduate education of government school students, if they join IITs. “IIT-Madras will work closely with Tamil Nadu government and government schools to see that maximum number of deserving students are benefited by this scheme,” he said in a statement.
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