PUDUCHERRY: Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who also holds the Finance portfolio, presented a tax-free budget of `6,100 crore on Thursday. As per its provisions, financial assistance extended under Centralised Admissions Committee (CENTAC) to medical students hailing from families in the unorganised sector will be raised from `50,000 to `1 lakh.
Assistance to engineering students will be raised from `25,000 to `50,000. Financial assistance to Scheduled Caste (SC) students pursuing medical studies through CENTAC, will be enhanced from `2.25 lakh to `3.25 lakh each and assistance to students selected for engineering courses through CENTAC will be increased from `25,000 to `35,000.
Scholarships for differently-abled students will be raised. All government schools will be provided with Reverse Osmosis (RO) drinking water. Under the midday meal scheme a proposal to provide two eggs per week to students of government and aided schools has been proposed.
A new programme called ‘Health Care for Elderly’ will be launched by strengthening the geriatric ward and the out-patient department in the Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Post Graduate Institute at a cost of `1.80 crore.
Financial assistance to economically weaker sections undergoing treatment outside the Union Territory will be increased from `1.50 lakh to `2 lakh through the Pondicherry Medical Relief Society for the Poor.
Nirbhaya Centres will be set up in all four regions with financial assistance from the Ministry of Women and Child development.
