Jharkhand: Hemant govt relief for disabled and orphan students

Tuition fees up to Rs 10 lakh, monthly assistance of Rs 4000

Ranchi, December 1: Physically challenged and orphan students of Jharkhand wishing to pursue academics can heave a sigh of relief. The Hemant Soren led government will not only ease their financial stress but also provide them with additional economic assistance.

The state government will bear the entire cost of higher and technical education of all the disabled and orphan students of the state from the new academic session 2025-26. Under this, the state government will also bear the tuition fees up to Rs 10 lakh. Also, Rs 4,000 will be given in a month.

After the state government bears the expenses incurred in the education of disabled and orphan students, the students will have to bear only the cost of hostel and living and food. However, for this also they will be given a separate allowance of four thousand rupees per month for other expenses.

A portal is also being created so that students can apply online to avail this benefit. Eligible students will be able to apply for this scheme online from their places without taking the burden to visit district collectorates.

Under this Valmiki Scholarship Scheme starting from the new academic session, it is estimated that every year 1200 students will be benefited for professional courses and over 12,000 students for graduation and post graduation studies. However, no maximum limit of beneficiaries has been set.

All eligible students can apply for this. The state government has estimated to spend Rs 99.66 crore per year on this scheme.

A committee will be formed under the chairmanship of the director of higher education for monitoring this scheme, in which the director of social security, director of technical education, personnel department and an officer of the Women and Child Development Department will be its members. This scheme has been approved by the state government. It can be formally launched in January-February next year.

Under this scheme, beneficiary students will get the benefit of enrolling in any institution of Jharkhand. Whereas, in case of other states, only those students who take admission in the institutes which are in the top 200 in the overall category and top 100 in the respective category will get the benefit. The beneficiary should be a local resident of Jharkhand.

Also, in case of diploma, it will be mandatory to pass 10th from Jharkhand schools and for degree level courses, it will be mandatory to pass 10th and 12th from Jharkhand schools.