Punjab CM launches post-matric SC scholarship scheme to mark Valmiki Jayanti

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday formally launched the recently announced Dr BR Ambedkar Post Matric Scheduled Caste Scholarship Scheme, and also virtually laid the foundation stone of Rs 50-crore worth of projects at Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal (Ram Tirath), Amritsar, on Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti on Saturday.

Participating in the Valmiki Jayanti celebrations in Chandigarh, the chief minister virtually inaugurated the Ram Tirath Industrial Training Institute (ITI), while giving the go-ahead for setting up a skill development centre to prepare Dalit students for competitive exams.

In addition, he announced an annual holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act in remembrance Maharishi Valmiki, and said that Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, will organise an annual seminar on the eve of his birth anniversary every year.

Capt Amarinder Singh distributed Post-Matric SC Scholarship Certificates to Scheduled Caste students and congratulated the Valmiki Samaj for schemes launched by the technical education and departments for the Dalit community in the state.

CM TAKES SWIPE AT CENTRE

The chief minister said the state scholarship scheme will ensure that needy SC students get free higher education, which the Government of India had “unfairly deprived them of with its abrupt withdrawal of Central aid of Rs 800 crore to the state”.

“The Dr BR Ambedkar Post Matric SC Scholarship, being launched without any financial contribution from the Centre, will provide 100% fee waiver for SC students to give them net savings of about Rs 550 crore,” he said.

The scheme, which will benefit more than 3 lakh poor SC students every year, will involve no upfront payment by these students to government/private educational institutions. The institutes will provide free education to SC students under the scheme against direct subsidy from the state government, the chief minister announced, adding that the students will also get monthly stipend to buy books, uniforms etc.

On the Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal projects, he said these include a panorama on Maharishi Valmiki (Rs 25-30 crore), facade lights (Rs. 10.9 crore), filtration plant in the sarovar (Rs. 4.75 crore), furniture for the sarai (Rs 2 crore) and construction of a parikrama (Rs. 1.3 crore).

90 TRAINEES ADMITTED AT ITI, RAM TIRATH

Virtually inaugurating the temporary campus of the ITI at Ram Tirath, Captain Amarinder said the institute will contribute to generating more jobs for youngsters. Around 90 trainees have so far been admitted to the institute, he announced, adding that the student strength will be raised to 240 by next year when the building will be renovated at a cost of Rs 1.82 crore and machinery worth Rs 3.5 crore will be procured. The number of courses will also be increased from the present four to nine.