Staff Reporter, Guwahati, June 26: The Assam government will bear the admission fees of college students, whose parents' annual income is less than ₹2 lakh, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday.The move is estimated to cost around ₹150 crore annually to the BJP-led state government and is aimed at alleviating the financial burden of economically weaker families.As part of this scheme, the state government will credit the allocated funds directly to colleges in July, Sarma said. This will ensure eligible students are exempt from paying admission fees, he added.“Govt of Assam is bearing the admission fee of college students whose parent's annual income is less than ₹2 lakh. We will bear a cost of appx ₹150cr every year on this, which will be credited to the respective colleges in July. If any student faces an issue, feel free to contact the DC or Education Dept,” Sarma wrote on X.On Monday, Sarma reviewed the ‘Pragyan Bharti’, a fee-waiver scheme for free admission to academic institutes under the Higher Education Department of Assam.Under the scheme, students with parental incomes of less than ₹2 lakh per annum are eligible for free admission to higher education courses in Assam.According to an official release, 57,469 applicants were eligible for a fee waiver in the 2024-25 academic session. The number is expected to go up after the second merit list for admissions to undergraduate courses is published.To ensure a maximum number of eligible students apply for the fee waiver scheme, Sarma asked the state education department officials to launch a widespread awareness campaign regarding the scheme.Further, the chief minister also took note of the fact that some of the applicants were unable to get themselves enrolled as beneficiaries due to the unavailability of ‘income certificates’.He said that ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) can also be treated as supporting documents instead of income certificates for the scheme from now onwards.
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