THOOTHUKUDI: Around 13,000 women students were able to pursue higher studies due to the Chief Minister's Puthumani Penn scheme, which provides an assistance of Rs 1,000 for girl students who completed schooling in government schools, said Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Geetha Jeevan, during a "maperum Tamil Kanavu" event held at St Mary's College on Friday.
District Collector Dr K Senthil Raj, economist J Jeyaranjan and journalist M Gunasekaran and other dignitaries were present at the event.
The minister said that skill development is very important as the job market is much more competitive than before. A student must find solutions, instead of being just a bookworm, she added.
As per the admission data, many girl students pursued their higher studies within a gap of one or two years and over 13,000 girl students joined colleges with the help of the Pudhumai Penn scheme, she noted.
The economist and state planning commission vice president J Jeyaranjan, who spoke on the topic 'rural development in Tamil Nadu', said that the rural public has got more opportunities to work in other sectors other than agriculture. "Nowadays, farmers are not only dependent on agriculture in Tamil Nadu as they consider other opportunities too. Only 5% are fully dependent on agriculture in villages," he said.
"The state of Tamil Nadu has become second in terms of economy due to the importance given for the rural development," Jeyaranjan said, adding that the economy of Tamil Nadu will be the first in the country soon as its per capita income has increased up to 4%.