In a scheme that would benefit the higher education of girls studying in government schools in Tamil Nadu, Rs 1,000 will be provided as a monthly financial assistance to them till the completion of their undergraduate degree, the Tamil Nadu government announced in its budget presented on Friday, March 18. The amount will be deposited directly into the bank accounts of the female students, who are studying in classes 6 to 12 in government schools, till they complete their undergraduate degree, diploma and ITI courses. Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) announced that approximately six lakh girls in government schools are expected to benefit from the scheme, for which an amount of Rs 698 crore has been allotted.
PTR stated that the ‘Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Marriage Assistance Scheme’ is being transformed as the ‘Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance Scheme’. The transformation is made in recognition of the very low ratio of girl students from government schools being enrolled in higher education, he said.
In another announcement, the minister said that Rs 5 crore has been set aside to translate and publish a collection of Periyar's written works in 21 Indian and World languages, in print as well as digital editions. “It is the duty of this Government to spread his message and writings across the world so that the whole of humanity can benefit from his progressive ideas,” he said.
The government has also set aside Rs 36 crore for establishing District Central Libraries with modern infrastructure in the newly created six districts, in the next two years. Further, Rs 5.6 crore has been allotted for conducting book fairs and literary festivals next year in all the districts of Tamil Nadu akin to the Chennai Book Fair. “In addition, four literary festivals will be held annually to celebrate the literary traditions of the rich Tamil language,” the minister said.
He also said that the ‘Illam Thedi Kalvi’ scheme will continue to be executed in the next year with a budgetary allocation of Rs 200 crore. In addition to the existing 10 model schools established by the government in educationally backward districts to ensure that students from government schools pursue courses in STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Medicine), 15 more schools will be established with a budgetary allocation of Rs 125 crore.
An amount of Rs 7000 crore has been allotted for for the phased implementation of the “Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme” aimed at modernising government schools, including Adi Dravidar, Tribal and Kallar Reclamation Schools, over the next five years and Rs 1,300 crore has been allotted in the coming financial year.
PTR also said that a special scheme will be implemented to create new hostels, laboratories and smart classrooms in government schools at a total cost of Rs 1,000 crore, over the next five years, and Rs 250 crore has been provided in this budget.
A total of Rs 5,668.89 crore has been allotted for the Higher Education Department and Rs 36,895.89 for the School Education Department in this Budget.
In addition to this, Rs 50 crore has been allocated to the implementation of “Naan Mudhalvan” programme, which is the dream project of Chief Minister MK Stalin. The programme is aimed at producing five lakh accomplished youth every year “by enhancing their level of education, knowledge, intellect, motivation and skill”.
The state government will bear the full cost of the undergraduate education of students who have studied in government schools from classes 6 to 12, to motivate government school students to join premier higher education institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Science and All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Appreciating and welcoming the Tamil Nadu government's announcement to fund IIT education for undergraduate programs for the state's students, Director of IIT Madras, Professor Kamakoti said that the institute will work closely with the state government and government schools to ensure that the maximum number of deserving students benefit from this scheme.
Other notable announcements :
Rs 2,542 crore has been allotted for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Rs 1,949 crore for Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Meal Programme
Rs 1,963 crore towards post-matric scholarship for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students
Rs 15 crore allotted for extending school kits (including textbooks and notebooks), which are currently being provided to students studying in government schools, to students of Classes 1 to 10 in private unaided schools which teach exclusively in Tamil medium.
In the sports sector, the minister said that a programme similar to the "Olympic Gold Quest" will be implemented at a cost of Rs 25 crore to develop world class athletes and Olympic medalists from Tamil Nadu. Further, with the objective of promoting youth from North Chennai, the government will create a modern sports complex with state-of-the-art sporting facilities and infrastructure in Radhakrishnan Nagar. The complex, with facilities for volleyball, badminton, basketball, boxing, kabaddi, indoor games and a modern gymnasium, will be constructed at an initial estimated cost of Rs 10 crore.
The DMK government, on Friday, presented the Budget for financial year 2022-23 in the Assembly and Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said that for the first time since 2014, the revenue deficit is set to decrease by over Rs 7,000 crore.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)