Odisha Govt Hikes Scholarship Amount Under Banishree Scheme

Bhubaneswar: The scholarship amount of Odisha’s differently-abled students under the Banishree Scholarship Scheme (BSS) has been hiked.

Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Minister, Ashok Chandra Panda, said on Tuesday that the Persons with Disabilities department has raised the scholarship amount following direction from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Under the BSS, Class I to Class V students who are receiving Rs 200 per month currently will get Rs 400.

Also, students of Plus II and Plus III are currently getting Rs 300 per month as scholarships. This amount has been hiked to Rs 600. The scholarship amount for students pursuing postgraduation has been raised from Rs 350 to Rs 700 per month. The technical and vocational students’ scholarship amount has been doubled — from Rs 350 to Rs 700.

The students of Class I to postgraduate level who are residing outside Odisha will now receive Rs 700, instead of the current Rs 350.

Visually impaired students’ reader allowance in primary schools has been raised from Rs 100 to Rs 200. Besides this, students with 75 or more percentages of disability will be entitled to Rs 200, which is currently Rs 100.

Over 23,600 students will benefit from the hiked scholarship which would be implemented from 2022-23 academic session.

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