The Maharashtra government on Thursday decided to extend fee waiver to students whose family income is less than Rs 6 lakh, for professional and higher education courses, including medical and engineering.
The BJP government also reaffirmed its commitment to provide reservation to the Maratha community.
Addressing a press conference after the state Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the 'Rajrishi Shahu Maharaj Fee Pratipurti Yojana' was earlier implemented for SC/ST and OBC students.
SC/ST students had 100 percent fee waiver while OBC students had 50 percent concession. It will now be extended to all students with income limit of Rs 6 lakhs and who have secured more than 60 percent marks at the time of admission. Those with income limit upto Rs 2.5 lakhs will have no condition.Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra Chief Minister
He said 6,000 students in government colleges and 1.45 lakh in private colleges will benefit with the decision.
The government also decided that the 'Punjabrao Deshmukh' scheme will be implemented to provide hostel fees to children of marginal farmers and registered labourers.
In big cities, Rs 30,000 will be given annually while in district-level towns it will be Rs 20,000.
The government has also decided to implement 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhay Swayam Yojana' for providing hostel and food facilities to tribal students, Fadnavis said.
In big cities, it would be Rs 6,000 per month, in 2-tier cities it would be Rs 5,000 and in 3-tier it would be Rs 4,000 per month.
In medical colleges, for those with income between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh, the government will pay interest of the educational loan taken by them. About 35,000 students in government and 3 lakh in private colleges will benefit from the scheme, he said.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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