CHENNAI: The government will bear tuition fees for eligible minority women students studying in government, government-aided and self-financing colleges under the government quota, covering courses including arts, science, engineering, medicine, agriculture and law. The measure will be implemented with an initial allocation of Rs 20 crore, Minorities Welfare Minister AM Shahjahan announced on Thursday.
Shahjahan also announced that the existing educational assistance provided to Muslim students in Classes 1 to 8 would be extended to girls studying in Classes 9 and 10. The assistance will be increased to Rs 2,000 for Classes 9 and 10 students. The scheme, with an allocation of Rs 8 crore, is expected to benefit 41,384 students.
A new minority girls’ college will be established in Chennai through the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board at Rs 2.45 crore. The government will also construct a new building for the Waqf Board for Rs 40 crore. Community halls will be established in five districts — Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi and Tiruvannamalai — for Rs 10 crore.
The government will also create District Minority Welfare Officer posts in 10 districts with a high minority population, involving an expenditure of Rs 4.45 crore.
Among other announcements, Rs 100 crore has been allocated for interest-free loans for construction and improvement of buildings at Muslim and Christian places of worship.
For BC and MBC communities, Minister V Sampath Kumar announced own buildings for 14 social justice college hostels and Spoken English training for 35,000 class 9-12 students.
Compound walls will be built around 95 hostels at Rs 12.61 crore, while 29 low-enrolment school hostels will be upgraded into college hostels. Around 28,000 girls in 517 hostels will receive self-defence training materials and uniforms.
The food allowance will rise from Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,800 for school students and Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 for college students. A new girls’ hostel in Chennai and MBC Welfare Board will also be established.
Announcements first, debates later
Chennai: Speaker JCD Prabhakar on Thursday announced a procedural change under which ministers will make new announcements for their respective departments immediately after moving the demand for grants, instead of making them at the end of their reply speech as was the practice earlier.
This is to ensure important announcements do not get overlooked, he said, adding the new procedure will allow members to discuss the announcements during the debate.
Under the conventional practice, the minister would move the demand for grants, following which members would debate it. The DMK, however, opposed the move. “It is like telecasting the climax at the beginning of a movie,” said Thangam Thennarasu.
Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin quipped, “Only if the movie is good will people watch till the climax.” Minister Vanni arasu intervened, saying DMK do not like political or procedural changes.