CM Himanta reviews fee-waiver education scheme for higher education

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday reviewed the working of Pragyan Bharti', a fee-waiver scheme for free admission in academic institutes under the state's Higher Education Department.

According to the scheme, all students whose parental incomes are less than Rs 2 lakh per annum are eligible for free admission for pursuing higher education courses in the state.

A total of 57,469 applicants have been found to be eligible for fee waiver in the 2024-25 academic session, an official release said.

The number will go up as the second merit list for admissions to undergraduate courses will be published soon, it said.

Sarma directed the education department officials to launch a widespread awareness campaign about Pragyan Bharti scheme so that maximum number of eligible students can apply for fee waiver under it.

The chief minister also took note of the fact that owing to unavailability of income certificates, a certain number of applicants were finding it difficult to get themselves enrolled as beneficiaries of the scheme, the release said.

Sarma issued instructions that from now onwards, ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) should also be treated as supporting documents in lieu of income certificates for the Pragyan Bharti scheme, it said.