New financial scheme for differently abled students in Sikkim

Sikkim government has framed a new financial scheme for the benefit of differently-abled students in an effort to enable them to avail education and secure a meaningful livelihood, an official said today.
Students with disabilities can now avail scholarship from the government under this new scheme - the 'Sikkim Grant of Scholarship to Students with Disabilities Scheme, 2014'.
The objective of this scheme, is to assist the differently-abled students to secure academic education and technical or professional training; this is further intended to enable them to earn livelihood and become useful members of society, the official said.
As per the new scheme, framed by the Social Welfare Department, all categories of the local underprivileged and differently-abled students who are pursuing education within or outside the state, but within the country, are eligible to avail the scholarship.

The primary mode of distribution of scholarship is through Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme but can be altered as per the decision of a competent authority. Apart from the financial benefit, the differently-abled students will also be entitled for free textbooks including special books, uniforms and other materials by the HRD Department.
As per the norms of the scholarship the claiming student should be in the age group of 5 years and above and should be suffering from not less than 40 per cent disabilities. The student must be a regular student of a recognized institution.