Tamil Nadu govt scheme to benefit 2.73 L female students for higher education

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government said on Monday in a statement that 2.73 lakh girl students benefitted from the Moovalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Higher Education Assurance Scheme or 'Pudhumai Penn Scheme' launched by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in 2022.

The statement also added that this scheme launched by the state government has led to a 34 per cent increase in enrollment of female students in the higher education sector of the state.

The Pudhumai Penn scheme aims to provide a monthly aid of Rs 1,000 to female students, who have studied from Class 6 to 12 in state government-run schools and are pursuing higher education.

The government in the statement said that 1,960 proposals were received under the Chief Minister's Research Grant scheme and added that several students were benefitting from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Research Fellowship scheme.

The statement also added that the Higher Education Department was constructing an auditorium to be named after former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at the Presidency College in Chennai.

The 2,000-seat capacity auditorium spread over 5,500 sq.m was being constructed for Rs 63 crore.

The statement also said that the Naan Mudhalvan scheme of the state government had benefitted more than 27 lakh students and over 1.9 lakh students had gained employment opportunities.

The Tamil Nadu government has introduced curriculum courses for the students of government-run polytechnic, engineering, and arts and science colleges in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme.

'Naan Mudhalvan' provides information for college students on course and industry-specific skill offerings that would help them to get trained in their chosen field of interest that will help them in achieving their career goals.

The state government has also extended financial aid to the tune of Rs 213.37 crore towards hostel and other expenses of 28,601 students who have benefitted from the 7.5 per cent reservation in professional courses provided to those who have studied in government-run schools, it said.

The Tamil Nadu government, according to the statement, has provided assistance of about Rs 1,000 crore during the past three years to benefit 13,241 first-generation learners.