Himachal achieving remarkable progress in education: Kewal Singh Pathania
Deputy Chief Whip Kewal Singh Pathania today reviewed the implementation of education schemes in district Kangra. He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Himachal Pradesh was witnessing remarkable progress in the education sector. The government has launched several welfare schemes to ensure that no section is deprived of education, he stated.
Pathania informed that recently the Cabinet approved amendments to the Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar Student Loan Scheme. As per this amendment, students pursuing postgraduate studies will also be able to avail education loans at one percent interest rate. In addition, the annual family income limit for beneficiaries has been increased from rupees four lakh to Rs.12 lakh per annum. Meritorious students can avail loans up to Rs. 20 lakh.
Pathania said major reforms were underway to ensure quality education due to the farsightedness of the Chief Minister. The Rajiv Gandhi Day-Boarding Schools are being set up in all Assembly constituencies, english medium has started from Class 1st and 100 government schools were being converted to the CBSE pattern. Himachal is now declared a fully literate state and ranks first in student-teacher ratio, he remarked.
He added that more than 87,000 students have benefitted from scholarship schemes and Rs.92 crore has been disbursed in two years. Under the nutrition scheme, over 5.34 lakh students are getting nutritious meals in 15,181 schools. Various schemes for SC, ST, OBC, EWS, disabled children and children of widows/divorced women were ensuring inclusive education.
Senior officials including Secretary Education Rakesh Kanwar and Vice-Chancellor HPU Prof. Mahavir Singh were present in the meeting.
