Assam: Ration card now valid document for free college admission

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: From now on, students from economically weaker sections can avail of fee waivers for admission into colleges by producing a ration card before the college authority. This facility of a ration card as a valid document for admission has been provided to the students in view of the difficulty in procuring family income certificates.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took the decision today after consulting with officials of the Education Department regarding the fee waiver scheme under Pragyan Bharti.

The CM took to X to say, “College authorities have been directed to accept the family ration card instead of income certificate for students who have not been able to submit income certificates of their parents to avail free admission at college level under the Pragyan Bharati scheme of the Government of Assam.”

Chairing the meeting, the chief minister sought details on the progress and beneficiaries of the Pragyan Bharati scheme till date and instructed the department’s officials to ensure widespread awareness of the scheme so that all eligible beneficiaries could apply. He also instructed the officials to accept a National Food Security Act (NFSA) certificate as income proof in cases where an income certificate is not available, in a bid to make the scheme hassle-free for all students.

In this connection, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu addressed all government and provincialized colleges and state universities to say, “Students eligible to avail of the Fee Waiver Scheme for admission into the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUGP) in government and provincialized colleges and state universities can submit their family ration card in lieu of an income certificate, and admitting institutes are to accept the same.”

Pegu further said that the chief minister has reviewed the fee waiver scheme of the Assam government today. Also, 57469 students have been admitted to FYUGP in government or provincialized colleges and state universities under the scheme, he said. He also stated that another 50,000 students are expected to avail of the scheme.

The education minister went on to say, “The institutes are generally reimbursed towards the end of every financial year after data compilation from the institutes, which took a long time. This year, as the data is now readily available with the Samarth portal, the CM has ordered to reimburse the institutions on July 10 for all non-CUET admissions. Similarly, after completion of the CUET-based admission, the government will reimburse in the month of August.”

“In the last 3 years, a total of Rs 427.51 crores have been released to colleges and universities as fee waiver reimbursement, and 10 lakh, 95 thousand students have benefited from the scheme,” Pegu added.

Also Read: Assam: Chief Minister Assures Distribution of Ration Cards and Expansion of Welfare Scheme (sentinelassam.com)

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