Mangaluru: The state government plans to help students studying in private and government colleges who cannot afford coaching to appear before competitive exams like CET, NEET and JEE, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday.
While interacting with the beneficiaries of the ‘Mukhyamantri Raitha Vidya Nidhi Scheme’, at Alva’s Educational Institutions, in Moodbidri, he said the government will develop an app to impart free coaching for students to face these entrance examinations.
The government also plans to pay the fees of those poor students who are unable to pay the entrance exam fees, he added.
A majority of the students said they were using the funds for paying college fees, bus fares and hostel accommodation.
Hithashree, a student of Excellent PU College in Moodbidri, said that she has set aside the scholarship received under the Vidya Nidhi Scheme for paying her NEET entrance exam fees.
The CM, responding to the query of a beneficiary, said that coaching for all competitive exams will be made available in colleges.
SDM Polytechnic student Nishmitha said that she has used the amount for designing a project focusing on arecanut farming.
A student Shankar from University College in Mangaluru jumped the barricade in order to express his views before the chief minister. However, he was stopped by the police and allowed to speak after the programme.
Shankar said that all beneficiaries who received scholarships had expressed their desire to become doctors/IAS. But, none of them wanted to become farmers.
The chief minister urged students to utilise the amount for academic purposes.
Later, he addressed a gathering and urged the students to write their own destinies.
“I am happy that many of the students had benefited from Raitha Vidya Nidhi,” he said.
The CM urged students to develop logical thinking.
Logical thinking helps in finding solutions to problems, he said.
“Realizing that the farmers are in distress, I launched Raitha Vidya Nidhi for them. Students should gain knowledge and achieve in life,” he stressed.
The CM also assured of upgrading all polytechnic colleges across the state.
As many as 28,966 students during 2021-22 had registered under the Raitha Vidya Nidhi Scheme in Dakshina Kannada district. A sum of Rs 7.87 crore is deposited in the accounts of 21,823 students so far. A sum of 3.14 crore is being credited to the accounts of the remaining 7,143 students.
The CM symbolically inaugurated a 33/11 Kv gas-insulated substation at Urwa Market in Mangaluru.
“The station was built at a cost of Rs 11.12 crore. The new substation will supply electricity to Mannagudda, Gandhinagara, Urwa Market, Bolton, Bokkapatna, Matadakani and Tilaknagara, covering 35,000 consumers,” said Minister for Energy V Sunil Kumar.