Nagpur: In a significant move, the State Government has decided to directly deposit amounts to the bank accounts of those Scheduled Tribe students who could not get admission to government hostels. The money to be deposited in the bank accounts is meant for students to pursue higher studies, food and educational material. The Adivasi Department has issued a circular in this regard.
Commenting the decision, Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule thanked the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the significant decision that will give great relief to thousands of ST students in the state.
The total number of sanctioned government hostels in the state are 491 including 283 for boys and 208 for girls. Out of them, 451 are functional. The state also boasts of facilities for higher and technical, medical and engineering courses at many places. The number of students seeking admission to these courses are in thousands. Many students come from interior, rural parts but cannot afford the expenses. Such poor students are accommodated in government hostels free of cost.
However, the hostels are proving to be inadequate to accommodate thousands of students. Keeping in mind the difficulties being faced by those students who could not get admission in government hostels, the state government has decided to directly deposit money into bank accounts of such students for lodging, boarding at other places as well as for meeting expenses towards educational material. The number of ST students who could not get admission to government hostels is 20,000. Rs 60,000 for each student will be deposited in their bank accounts including Rs 32,000 for food, Rs 20,000 for lodging and Rs 8,000 as dearness allowance.
