Bhubaneswar: With Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is eager to help out Tribal Students in a big way, Principal Secretary ST SC Development Bishnupada Sethi took no time to issue operational guidelines for the implementation of Shahid Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Yojana (SMSHKY).
SMSHKY is aimed to check the drop-out rate among the students belonging to the Scheduled Tribes studying in Class IX and X in government and aided schools across the State.
The State SC and ST Development Department has issued the guidelines recently. Under the scheme, The students belonging to the Scheduled Tribe community in Odisha will be provided with one-time financial assistance of Rs 5,000.
A good number of tribal students are getting enrolled at the elementary level in the State. However, high dropouts are also being noticed among the tribal students after class VIII and class X causing less enrollment in Secondary and Higher Secondary levels, respectively.
In order to reduce the dropout rate, and to encourage Scheduled Tribe (ST) students to pursue higher education without any major hindrance, the State government has launched the “Shahid Madho Singh Haath Kharcha Yojna”.
Under this scheme, ST students passing out from Class VIII and joining in Class IX and similarly from Class X to Class XI, will receive a onetime incentive amount of Rs 5,000, the guidelines said.
Principal Secretary ST SC Development, Shri Sethi also noted that the ST students getting benefits under any other scholarship schemes are also eligible to avail the incentive amount under the Sahid Madho Singh Scheme.
It also asserts that this one-time financial aid will help in increasing the enrollment status in Class 9 and Class 11 in different government and government-aided institutions.
The incentive amount will be provided after enrollment in the respective classes, ensuring that student is attending classes regularly after enrollment. This financial aid will help the tribal students meet expenses for their incidental requirements, it said.
To avail the benefit of the scheme, students should belong to Scheduled Tribe community and shall be a permanent resident of Odisha and the annual income of the family of the students from all sources should not exceed Rs 2.5 lakh.
The student shall be pursuing her/ his education in any government or government aided high school and higher secondary school within the State.
The students will have to submit Caste certificate, income certificate, bank-account details, Aadhaar number, etc while applying for the scheme on online mode on the State Scholarship Portal (OSSP).
Any eligible ST student who has taken admission in Std. IX or Std. XI in any government or government aided high school or higher secondary school within the state shall be eligible for receiving financial incentive under the scheme.