Financial support to girl students: Assam CM reviews Nijut Moina initiative

Guwahati, July 30 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday chaired a video conference with his cabinet Ministers, MLAs, District Commissioners (DC), principals and officials from education department at the Lok Sewa Bhawan here to review the rollout of second phase of Nijut Moina scheme, which is to be launched on August 6 across the state.

The Nijut Moina initiative, a flagship programme of the state government offers financial support to girl students to undertake their studies at graduate and post graduate levels in colleges and universities.

The second instalment of the scheme -- Nijut Moina 2.0 will be launched with the starting the process of distributing the forms to the deserving girls students from the Higher Secondary, Under Graduate, Post Graduate, B.Ed and Integrated Teacher Education Programme.

The Chief Minister directed District Commissioners and Principals to ensure smooth and transparent implementation of the scheme with an emphasis on maximum outreach.

It may be noted that Nijut Moina is an initiative, launched by the Assam government aims at empowering girl students by providing financial incentives, reducing school dropout rates, and promoting higher education among young girls, especially from underprivileged backgrounds.

In its second phase, the scheme seeks to expand coverage and increase the impact of the scheme by ensuring timely delivery of benefits, and enhanced coordination among district-level authorities. During the virtual interaction, the Chief Minister emphasised the importance of seamless implementation and urged all stakeholders to ensure efficiency and maximum outreach.

He said: “Nijut Moina 2.0 is not just a welfare scheme, it is our pledge to support the dreams and education of every girl in Assam. By investing in girls' education, we are investing in the future of the state."

The Chief Minister also directed officials to maintain an updated database, streamline beneficiary identification processes, and undertake awareness campaigns at the grassroots level to ensure no eligible student is left behind.

Sarma also asked the DCs and the Education Department to ensure that Nijut Moina 2.0 becomes a model of inclusive and transformative governance in the field of education.

He also stated that Nijut Moina 2.0 will also include resident girl students of Assam studying in Central Universities like Tezpur and Assam University and they will be covered under the scheme.

--IANS

tdr/pgh