Stipend for girls with special needs through DBT

BHUBANESWAR: Girl students with special needs, studying in senior secondary schools in the state, will get the stipend through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode from the coming academic session.

The ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has issued a directive to the state, asking it to start identifying such students.

The Centre, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), is implementing a scheme for Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage as part of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.

Under the scheme, central assistance of Rs 3,000 is sanctioned per child per annum for student-oriented assistance, support for engagement of special teachers, resource room, making schools barrier-free, orientation of parents and more.

The scheme also has provision for stipend of Rs 200 per month for girls with disabilities.

Following the directive, project director of Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority (Opepa) Bhupendra Singh Poonia has written to all the district-level authorities to collect information on such children for transfer of stipend through the DBT.

"The data of girl students studying in classes IX and X is required to be collected for uploading on the MHRD website," reads the letter.

"The DBT mode will ensure transparency. The district-level authorities will collect data on such students and send it to us for uploading on the MHRD website. We are hopeful of completing the process of data collection by mid-March," said an official of the school and mass education department.