Rs 1,838 crore allocated for post-matric scholarships

Adi-Dravidar Welfare and Tribal Welfare Minister V M Rajalakshmi was also present during the performance review of the department.

Sources said as much as Rs 3,207.04 crore would be allocated for the Adi-Dravidar Welfare Department and Rs 333.82 crore for the Tribal Welfare Department. As the scholarship disbursal was taken up for review, a senior official said as much as Rs 129.16 crore and Rs 1,838.24 crore would be allocated for the pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes for fiscal 2018-2019.

The free-bicycle scheme was deliberated and Rs 71 crore has been earmarked for it, while Rs 150 crore has been allocated for extending Special Central Assistance, the official added.

Annual allocation of Rs 50 crore under the Comprehensive Tribal Development Programme (CTDP) would be made for infrastructure development activities and financial assistance for tribal families to take up income generation activities.

In a separate meeting, the CM reviewed the Tamil Development department. The government’s sanction of Rs 10 crore to institute a Tamil Chair in the Harvard University and other areas of grants issued were discussed during the meeting.

“To preserve and propagate Tamil language and culture internationally, the Tamil Language Propagation Centre is being established at the Tamil University, Thanjavur, for which Rs 2 crore will be provided as annual grant,” an official said.