Mumbai: In a major boost to female empowerment and education, the Maharashtra government has decided to fully waive the tuition fees for all female students from families with an annual income of up to Rs 8 lakh, who are pursuing professional courses such as medicine, engineering, and pharmacy in the state. The scheme will cover students enrolled in 642 existing and approximately 200 newly accredited courses across the state, and will be applicable for admission to all types of diploma, degree and post graduate courses.
The scheme, which is expected to benefit over 20 lakh female students across the state, will be implemented from the 2024-25 academic year, after getting the approval from the state cabinet. The government will bear an additional burden of Rs 300 crore on the state’s treasury for this initiative, which aims to support female students who aspire to continue their higher education but are hindered by financial constraints.
The decision was announced by Chandrakant Patil, minister for Higher and Technical Education, during an event in Jalgaon. He said that the government is committed to enhancing female participation in higher education within the state, and that this move will help in achieving the goal of gender equality and social justice.
Currently, the government covers the entire tuition fees for students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes admitted under reserved quotas in private institutions. However, for OBC, EBS, and EWS students with a family income cap of 8 lakhs, only 50% of their tuition fees are reimbursed. Although last year saw the introduction of full fee refunds for students in reserved seats at deemed universities, the government is now extending this benefit to all female students whose family income is below Rs 8 lakhs annually.
The policy change was prompted by a tragic incident in Parbhani, where a student took her own life due to an inability to afford her tuition fees, having received only a 50% refund. This led to discussions between the CM and Chandrakant Patil, resulting in the resolution to offer a 100% fee refund to all qualifying female students.
This initiative is seen as a significant step towards reversing the declining trend of female student enrollment in higher education in Maharashtra, which saw a drop from 20,54,252 in the 2020-21 academic year to 20,35,012 in 2021-22, despite an overall increase in student numbers.
The scheme has received a positive response from various stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, and educationists, who have welcomed the government’s move as a progressive and visionary one. They have expressed hope that this scheme will encourage more female students to pursue higher education and career opportunities, and will also reduce the dropout rate and the gender gap in education.
The government has also announced other measures to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education in the state, such as implementing the Maha-Swayam online learning platform, introducing new credit courses, addressing challenges faced by autonomous colleges, and extending the internship policy to various state government departments. The government also aims to expedite scholarship disbursements, and has proposed to waive GST on attached fees in the next GST Council meeting.
