BENGALURU: In a bid to encourage girl child education, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that all girls studying in government institutions up to post-graduation will be given free education.
"Rs 95 crore of the budget would be spent on providing free education for all the girl students taking admission in government pre-university (11th and 12th), degree and post-graduation courses," Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, said while presenting the Budget for 2018-19.
The provision of free education up to post-graduation is expected to benefit 3.7 lakh girl students in the state.
In 2017, the state government had announced free education for girls from class 1 till graduation in government schools and government aided-private schools from 2018-19 academic year.
"A total of Rs 4,514 crore is being provided for higher education in 2018-19," Siddaramaiah said, presenting his 13th state budget.
During 2018-19, 100 'Karnataka Public Schools' will be opened across the state at an expenditure of Rs 5 lakh per school, and a total expenditure of Rs 5 crore, he said.
The Chief Minister has earmarked Rs 22,350 crore in the 2018-19 Budget for primary and secondary education.
To ensure safety of the children at government primary and secondary schools, CCTV cameras will be installed in the upcoming fiscal, Siddaramaiah said.
"Rs 5 crore has been allocated to provide digital library facility through cloud computing to around 10 lakh students studying in government high schools and pre-university colleges."
Siddaramaiah also announced free bus passes to students from schools and colleges across the state from 2018-19, benefiting 19.6 lakh students.