Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Guwahati, Assam, on Wednesday examined the plans for the second iteration of the “Nijut Moina” program, which offers financial aid to qualified female students for postsecondary education. To assess the scheme’s implementation, Sarma convened a video conference with his cabinet colleagues, MLAs, district commissioners, school administrators, and education department representatives.
He shared a post on X, “The fight against child marriage gets stronger. Last year, our flagship scheme #NijutMoina helped close to 2 lakh girls with ₹132 cr in assistance.”
Since most girls drop out of school after Class 10 and are then married off by their parents, the program was started in October of last year to offer financial aid to female students at government and government-aided schools from higher secondary to post-graduate levels, according to officials. According to them, Assam is the first state to implement the program, which aims to reduce child marriage by encouraging more girls to enroll in higher education.
According to the CM, the forms will be given to qualified female students starting on August 6 this year. Sarma gave the DCs and principals instructions to guarantee the scheme’s seamless, open, and widely applicable implementation. He had previously stated that the ‘Nijut Moina’ initiative aims to prevent teenage motherhood, delay marriage until emotional, mental, and physical maturity, empower girls to make educated decisions and achieve economic independence, and preserve children’s rights to education, health, and protection.
According to Sarma, the goal of this program is to foster the innate talent of girls rather than to produce beneficiaries. Girls from various backgrounds are eligible for the program, regardless of their financial situation. Class 11 girls will receive ₹1,000 per month under the program, first-year degree students will receive ₹1,250, and post-graduation and B.Ed. students would receive ₹2,500.