Govt issues guidelines for Pudhalvan scheme

CHENNAI: Bouyed by the success of Pudhumei Penn, where the college-going girl students educated from government schools were given Rs 1,000 per month, the Tamil Nadu government recently extended the scheme, Tamil Pudhalvan, to the college-going boy students of the State-run and government-aided schools.

In the scheme implemented by the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, a fund of Rs 360 crore has been sanctioned, which will benefit as many as 3.28 lakh male students in the State. The scheme has been extended to male students after the announcement of the same was made during the February budget session by Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu. The department releasing the guidelines of the scheme detailed that an exclusive application form is to be designed and will be uploaded online for students. Here, the students and the respective school management have been directed that the Aadhar number in the application form should be verified with the Educational Management Information System (EMIS).

Also, the guidelines mandates that students should submit a proof of studying at the respective school with a school identity card. “After the confirmation, the same will be forwarded to the higher education department and a unique ID will be generated for the applying student and SMS will be sent to the registered mobile number. The students through this ID can know the status of the scheme,” the circular from the department added. Further for all online applications, the amount of Rs 1,000 will be directly credited to the social welfare department student’s bank accounts once they step in to the college. “From the time students apply for the incentives under the scheme, till the amount is credited to their bank account, the status of the events can be traced robustly through the unique number assigned to each student,” the circular added.