Guwahati: Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today distributed the sanction letters to beneficiary students under Abhinandan subsidy scheme for education loans at a programme organised on Saturday by Finance Department at Numali Jalah Parade Ground at Amingaon, Kamrup.
Under the scheme, Government of Assam has endeavoured to provide Rs 50,000 to all permanent resident students of the state who have taken education loans. 1545 students have received sanction letters till December 2019 while subsidy amounts were directly transferred to 4507 beneficiaries’ bank accounts on Saturday. A total of 6052 students have benefitted from the scheme till now. An amount of Rs 22 crore was credited to the accounts of the beneficiaries today.
Speaking at the programme, the Chief Minister stated that the present state government has extended all possible help to students through various schemes and informed that 52 lakh students of the state have benefitted so far from the schemes. He also said that the present state government has launched schemes like Abhinandan, free admission, free textbook, free uniform, scholarships, subsidy on hostel mess dues etc for enabling poor students to acquire higher education and he called on the students to
take advantage of the schemes.
Referring to examples of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and great personality of Assam Anandaram Barooah who achieved success in life braving all odds, Sonowal highlighted steps like setting up of 8 medical colleges, 9 engineering colleges, 32 polytechniques, skill university in
Mangaldoi, Majuli cultural university, NID in Jorhat, AIIMS in Changsari, IARI in Gogamukh, sports university in Chabua as major initiatives by state government for educational development. He called on the students to strive for excellence in their chosen fields through hardwork and dedication.
In his speech, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that due to the committed endeavour of the state government many poor students have been able to fulfil their dreams of higher education.
Among other steps, he underlined the scheme of providing Rs 20 thousand to meritorious students for purchasing laptops even during difficult time of COVID19 pandemic and increasing of seats to 1000 in medical colleges. He also informed about the launching of Arunodoy scheme on November 22 for beneftting 22 lakh families.
Principal Secretary of Health, Education etc Samir Kumar Sinha gave the welcome address in the programme which was attended by MLA Suman Haripriya, Commissioner of Tax Anurag Goyel, NE CGM of SBI S. Ramesh among others.