Rajasthan announces free college education for girls from July
On Wednesday, Rajasthan Higher Education Minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati announced that girls in the state would soon be entitled to free college education in institutes run by the government. The measure will be put in place from the next academic session, starting July this year. The minister also announced that sanitary napkins would be provided free of cost. Here are the details.
In the press conference, Bhati also blamed the erstwhile BJP government for having set up educational institutes with poor infrastructure. The minister promised to rectify the situation by making requisite arrangements at state-run educational institutes. He added that the current Congress government would also investigate recruitments made during the BJP regime in Rajasthan to ensure quality education.
"Girls studying in government colleges will be provided free education from the next academic session which starts in July. Also, the female students in colleges will be given sanitary napkins free of cost," Bhati was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
The move comes a month after the Karnataka government announced a similar measure. In December last year, the Karnataka government announced that it would provide free education to female students enrolled in pre-university, graduate, and post-graduate courses in government-run colleges. The government added that the scheme would benefit 3.7 lakh girls in the state, and would cost the state exchequer Rs. 95cr annually.
