No Application Received From Children Orphaned By COVID For Higher Studies: Minister

Bhubaneswar: The Higher Education Department has not received applications from the children orphaned by COVID-19 for higher studies.

Higher Education minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, while replying to an unstarred question of the BJD member Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on the expenditure borne by the state government for the higher studies of the children orphaned by the COVID-19, on Wednesday said that the state government had launched Ashirbad Yojana for the specially-cared children, who have faced difficulties either due to the demise of both parents, single parent (including case wherein death of another parent occurred earlier) or one parent who is primary bread earner, and the child continues to live with the remaining parent on or after April 1, 2020.

Under this scheme, these children will be linked with the “Green Passage” scheme of the Higher Education Department for further higher studies.

While the state government has made a budget allocation of Rs 5 lakh under the scheme during 2021-22 for higher studies of orphaned children in the government and government-aided colleges, the department has not received any application so far.