Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would release the Jagananna Vasati Deevena (JVD) funds by pressing a button at a programme in Narpala, Anantapur district, on Wednesday.
The JVD release was originally scheduled for April 17 but it was postponed. The Opposition parties then suspected the postponement was due to the CBI questioning of Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy in the Viveka murder case.
Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy later clarified that shortage of funds was the reason for the postponement.
Stressing that “Education can change our fortunes; poverty should not be an obstacle to receive Education,” the CM would deposit the amount directly into the bank accounts of mothers.
Officials said, including the present release of ₹ 912,71 crore, the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government by now have credited a total of ₹ 4,275.76 crore under the "Jagananna Vasathi Deevena" into the accounts of mothers of 25,17,245 students.
The previous TD government’s fee reimbursement scheme was limited to a few students. The Naidu-led government had left behind a due of ₹ 1,778 crore in this respect.
Officials said the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has provided a total assistance of ₹ 14,223.60 crore under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena schemes.
The payment of boarding and lodging charges of ₹ 10,000 for ITI students, ₹ 15,000 for polytechnic students and ₹ 20,000 to students doing courses like degree, engineering and medicine in two installments every year.
Assistance under the scheme is given to all children in a family, irrespective of their number. The government is directly depositing the amount into the accounts of mothers.
Officials also said the present government has revised the school curriculum to make it job-oriented by including the four-year UG Honours Degree and 30 per cent skill development courses to increase the employability of students.
As part of the Curriculum, Online Verticals have been introduced, through which students can pursue necessary skills in online mode. By introducing a 10-month mandatory internship, the government is preparing students to cope up with the requirements of the industries.
AP had signed an MoU with Microsoft to provide training to 1.62 lakh students in 40 skill development courses, where 1.07 lakh students have completed their training in Microsoft Technology. Likewise, 33,000 students in Sales Force, 23,000 in AWS, 20,000 in Nasscom, 10,000 in Palo Alto and 7,000 candidates in Alteryx Data Analytics training received certificates.
Andhra Pradesh is the only state to achieve more than 2 lakh certifications in a calendar year, officials noted.
Education minister Botsa Satyanarayana said that reforms initiated by the state government are yielding good results. “The number of students who passed Intermediate but could not get enrolled for higher studies in 2018-19 was 81,813. But, with effective implementation of Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena, the number has come down to 22.387 in 2022-23,” he said.
The drop-out rate in entry to higher education has dropped significantly to 6.62 per cent in 2022-23 against the national average of 27 per cent.
The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for 2018-19 was 32.4 and steps were taken to increase this to 70 per cent. The average number of girls enrolling in colleges per 100 boys has increased from 81 in 2018-19 to 94 in 2020-21 (Gender Parity Index). Campus Placements have also made a quantum jump from 37,000 in 2018-19 to 85,000 in 2021-22, the minister claimed.
