In what appears to be a pre-poll bonanza, the Odisha government has announced an annual scholarship for approximately 4,50,000 undergraduate and 32,000 postgraduate students, which comes just a day after the announcement of a ₹1 lakh interest-free loan for 1,00,000 unemployed rural youths in the State.
V. K. Pandian, Chairman of the 5-T Initiative, participated in Nua-O, a youth empowerment programme, in Jajpur district. “Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has taken a decision that minimum scholarship of ₹9,000 per year for male, and ₹10,000 per year for a female student pursuing higher education, will be given,” he said. Students belonging Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will receive an additional ₹1,000 over and above the fixed scholarship.
“All students are eligible for the scholarships except the students whose parents are Income Tax payee or permanent government employees. The Nua-O scholarships for current academic year will be deposited in the bank accounts of the eligible students from February 20 onwards and completed this month itself,” the Chief Minister’s Office said in a statement.
