Shillong, Nov 29: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has released the umbrella post matric scholarship for 2024-2025 at a function held at District Auditorium, Tura. Also present during the occasion were Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui, Commissioner & Secretary, Education, Vijay Kumar Mantri, Deputy Commissioner, West Garo Hills, Vibhor Aggarwal and Director of Higher & Technical Education, Hazel D B Sangma.
In his address, Sangma, said, “The government today is releasing the second and the final instalment of the umbrella post matric scholarship amounting to Rs 130 crore to about 70000 students,” thus keeping the commitment that the chief minister has made about a month back to release the scholarships without waiting for the funds released by the central government. “We are releasing the scholarship to you from our own resources as we have not yet received it from the central government,” he said.
He added that the delay in the release of scholarship has been because of the delay in releasing the funds by the central government. He further informed that the state government has taken this decision to release the scholarship in advance keeping in mind the issues faced by the students.
The chief minister also explained the advance release of the scholarships could not be done earlier because of the prevalent system whereby advance scholarship could not be transferred to the students. “We have been able to speak to the Government of India regarding the challenge and we have now worked out a system where we can now release the scholarship in advance,” he said. He also stated that once the Rs 130 crore is released to Meghalaya Rural Bank it will take a few days for processing and account verification of the students before the students finally receive the scholarship in their accounts. “Therefore verification is your responsibility as you have to ensure that your bank account is linked to your Aadhaar,” he said to the students.
Stating that education has been a top priority sector for the government the chief minister informed of the reformative measures taken by the government to streamline the system not only for the benefit of the students but also the teachers. “I am happy to announce today through this platform that a major reform is underway where we will be resolving the long pending issue faced by our Ad Hoc and SSA teachers and we are very close to finalising things for a solution that can be implemented from the next financial year,” he said.
Keeping in mind the large number of students participating in the program, the Chief Minister took the opportunity to share with the gathering the government’s vision for the state especially the youth and gave a detailed presentation on some of the flagship programs of the state for the youth like CM Elevate, YESS Meghalaya, Prime, MGMP, STAR program, Hello Meghalaya, programs in sports, music and research etc stating that “entrepreneurship and skilling of the youth is critical for the state’s growth story.”
He also informed that the government has planned the economic growth not only for the next two or three years but till 2047 hence a lot of reforms, policies, programs were created by the state government and added, “You, the youth, will be in the driver’s seat to take us into that phase of 2047 where Meghalaya should become one of the best states in the country.” The Chief Minister also underscored the role of the youth in the vision of $10 billion economy for the state.
The chief minister said the youths are one of the most important stakeholders for the government. “You are a very important asset and have an integral part in the growth story of our state and while education is important, opportunities for you is equally important. We believe in you and I believe that Meghalaya will be in the safe hands of our youth.”
Earlier, Minister, Education, Lahkmen Rymbui, said it is a red- letter day that marks the fulfilment of the commitments made to the student community. “We will continue to live upto the commitments made to our people to transform education and to make it accessible for everybody,” said the education minister.
Around 7000 students joined the occasion online from 200 locations all over the state. The event was attended largely by heads of institutions, teachers and students besides officials from the education department
