UP government extends Kanya Vidya Dhan benefits to more female students 

Wanting to keep its minority vote bank intact and survive the 2017 Assembly elections, the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) has decided to give funds under Kanya Vidya Dhan to female students who have cleared their intermediate exams from Secondary Sanskrit Education Board or from madrasas. 

A highly-placed source in the government told Mail Today that they were in the process of preparing a proposal in this regard which would be presented before the state Cabinet soon. 

Earlier, benefits under the scheme were only extended to girl students who had cleared their intermediate exams through the Uttar Pradesh board. 

Benefits under Kanya Vidya Dhan will now be extended to girls who have cleared their intermediate exams from the Secondary Sanskrit Education Board and from madrasas

Benefits under Kanya Vidya Dhan will now be extended to girls who have cleared their intermediate exams from the Secondary Sanskrit Education Board and from madrasas

“Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav wants to send a message across that his government works for both Hindus and Muslims. This could be the only reason behind the idea to give Rs 30,000 to these girl students to continue their studies. We have informed our seniors that we need to spend 10 per cent of the budget of Kanya Vidya Dhan on the intermediate pass girls of Sanskrit and madrasas,” a senior officer, who is working on this project, said. 

He told Mail Today that the total budget of Kanya Vidyadhan Yojana, which is for meritorious intermediate-pass girl students of UP Board, CBSE and ICSC, is Rs 300 crore from the current fiscal.

Initially, this scheme was for all the girls who cleared intermediate from UP Board. But later on, the government had decided to shrink its reach and give the one-time Rs 30,000 only to meritorious girl students. 

But now, the government has decided to extend the benefits to the students who have passed out from Sanskrit Board and also madrasas. 

Though the government is yet to make this plan public, party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: “The SP government is working for all the castes and communities in the state. It is only a misnomer of some people that we favour a particular caste or religion. We have started subsidised or free pilgrimage for both the communities. We are also trying to beautify the religious places in the state. This simply means that we want holistic growth of UP.” 

However, state BJP leader Laxmikant Bajpai slammed the SP. 

“On the one hand, the government is trying to restrict the movement and programmes of the Kanwariyas, who started their pilgrimage on Saturday, and on the other, they are trying to show that they would help the girl students of the non-minority community. But people of the state know what exactly is happening and how the government is trying to benefit a particular caste and a particular religion. The people will give the SP a reply in 2017.”