Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), Sept 5: The Odisha Cabinet has approved the new scheme ‘Madho Singh Haath Kharch Yojana’ to provide Rs 5,000 in financial assistance to each tribal student for their education, as announced in the state Assembly on Thursday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling revealed that the scheme, introduced in this year’s annual budget, aims to reduce the dropout rate among tribal students.
Approximately 300,000 students from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category will benefit from the Madho Singh Haath Kharch Yojana, with the state government allocating Rs 156 crore for the scheme in the current budget.
Minister Mahaling explained that the scheme will provide an annual incentive of Rs 5,000 to tribal students advancing from Class 8 to 9 and from Class 10 to 11. The initiative is set to begin this year.
Addressing the persistent issue of high dropout rates at the secondary education level, the government has allocated additional funds in the budget to improve student retention.
