Minority hostel inmates to get Rs 1,000 per month

Patna: The state cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned a proposal of the minority welfare department to provide a grant Rs 1,000 per month to inmates of minority welfare hostels in a bid to motivate them to continue higher studies. The cabinet also approved opening of residential schools for students from the minority communities eager to pursue higher studies.

“The cabinet meeting, chaired by CM Nitish Kumar, approved 13 more proposals of various departments,” principal secretary of cabinet secretariat department Arun Kumar Singh said.

Principal secretary of minority welfare department Amir Subhani said altogether 3,350 inmates of 33 minority welfare hostels would get Rs 1,000 per month under the CM Minority Welfare Hostel Subsidy Scheme.

“Fifteen more such hostels will come up soon, increasing the number of beneficiaries to 5,440,” Subhani added.

The residential schools, Subhani said, will be for students of classes IX to XII from the minority communities. These schools will be affiliated to the Bihar School Examination Board. Students from families with less than Rs 6 lakh annual income will be selected for admission through a common test.

The cabinet also approved one-time payment of Rs 50,000 to such student from the other backward caste (OBC) and extremely backward caste (EBC) communities who qualify in the civil services preliminary examination conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission and Rs 1 lakh to those who clear the Union Public Service Commission civil services prelims.

The cabinet also sanctioned funds for construction of sewerage network and sewerage treatment plants (STPs) in various towns as part of the Centre’s Namami Gange project. A sum of Rs 588.87 crore has been sanctioned for the Kankerbagh area in Patna, Rs 836.44 crore for Digha area, Rs 236.56 crore for Begusarai, Rs 301.16 crore for Munger and Rs 260.87 crore for Bhagalpur.

Courtesy: TNN