Jharkhand govt offers incentives to increase BPL students' enrolment

Ranchi, Dec 31 (UNI) In a bid to attract children from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families towards education, Jharkhand HRD Minister Bandhu Tirkey today announced to give Rs 100 per month to the boys and Rs 150 per month to the girls from the category after they enrolled in schools.

Mr Tirkey said the money, proposed to be given to the BPL students, would be deposited in banks against enrolment and released only after 18 years.

Addressing a press conference here, the HRD Minister, however, made it clear that those entitled to the scheme would be under strict scrutiny in terms of maintaining regular attendance in the schools.

A boy student, enrolled in the first standard, would be entitled to withdraw about Rs 12,000, excluding the interest, at the time of passing the Matriculation examination, while a girl student would receive about Rs 21,000.

The minister's proposal, named 'Veer Budhu Bhagat Shiksha Yojna', assumed significance in the wake of the high dropout rate of about 60 per cent of students from Class I to X.

Mr Tirkey hoped that besides checking the school dropout rate, the financial package would also improve the education quality in government schools.

''More meritorious students would be attracted towards the government schools as it would also provide financial security in future,'' the minister said.

The HRD Minister said all the posts of teachers and principals, lying vacant in the primary, secondary and higher secondary schools, would also be filled.

He said an Urdu university would be established in the state, adding that the state government had already identified the site for the proposed project.

UNI