E-Paper
Sukhu orders removal of caste column from school admission forms
Sukhu said his government is committed to eliminating caste-based discrimination in society and promoting fraternity and equality and the removal of the caste column would be a step in this direction.
Prefer HTon Google
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday ordered that the caste column be removed from admission forms in schools from the next academic session.
He issued the direction while chairing the meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Caste Welfare Board (HPSCWB) here.
Sukhu said his government is committed to eliminating caste-based discrimination in society and promoting fraternity and equality and the removal of the caste column would be a step in this direction.
He said, “Removing the caste column from school admission forms would be a step in this direction and would help ensure that children do not develop any sense of inferiority on the basis of caste. However, members of the Scheduled Caste community would continue to provide their caste details when availing themselves for government schemes and benefits, ensuring that they receive the benefits of such schemes without any difficulty”.
The CM said that the state government was giving priority to resolving the issues faced by the Scheduled Caste community.
He said that under the Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Swarozgar Saur Yojana, the state government was providing subsidies for setting up projects ranging from 100 KW to 2 MW. A subsidy of 5 percent was being provided for projects in tribal areas and 4 percent in other areas.
The CM said that the state government is also providing loans of up to ₹20 lakh to meritorious students for higher education at an interest rate of one percent, so that students were not forced to discontinue their studies due to financial constraints.
He said that the state government was going to implement the Apna Parivar Sukhi Parivar Yojana for extremely poor families. Under the scheme, eligible families would be provided 300 units of free electricity, while women from these families would receive a monthly pension of ₹1,500.
