Bhubaneswar: In a significant move ahead of elections, the Odisha government is all set to provide scholarships to students of general degree and post graduate courses under Nua-O scheme.
Speaking at a Nua-O Fest during a visit to Jajpur on Tuesday, 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman V K Pandian explained the Cabinet decision on the Nua-O scholarships for students in the state.
Pandian said scholarship will be given to students enrolled in general degree & PG programs in state universities, government and non-government aided colleges, including aided Sanskrit colleges under the Higher Education department.
He said the minimum scholarship amount for male students will be Rs 9,000 per year, while female students will get Rs 10,000 each annually. The students belonging to eligible SC/ST and Nirman Shramik families will get Rs 10,000 (Male) and Rs 11,000 (Female) per annum.
The students whose parents are Income Tax payee or permanent government employees are not eligible for scholarship under the scheme. The Nua-O scholarships for current academic year will be deposited in the bank accounts of the eligible students from February 20 onwards and completed this month itself, he said.
A Nua-O corpus fund of Rs 300 core will be constituted from the coming academic year. Students who will excel in academic and different co-curricular activities will get higher amount as scholarship from this corpus fund.
The 5T Chairman further announced that Nua-O Magic Smart Cards will be given to all eligible students by August, providing additional benefits like bus/train travel, free wi-fi, access to online courses, skill development, coaching programs etc based on performance and participation in various academic and extracurricular activities.
Pandian said this will be a new era of student empowerment by Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik towards realising his vision of Nabin Odisha. He motivated to students to dream big and work hard to realise it.
It is expected that about 4.5 lakhs UG students and about 32,000 PG students will benefit from this Nua-O Scholarships scheme of the state government.
