Almost 1,20,000 students in Assam benefit from the fee waiver scheme for college admissions

Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu stated that the state government does not charge any fees to college students. Instead, it provides a fee waiver scheme for students from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu announced on Monday that over 71 percent of more than 166,000 students enrolling in various colleges across the state have utilized the fee waiver scheme for low-income families. Previously, students with a parental annual income of up to Rs 2 lakh were eligible for free admission, but this year the limit has been increased to Rs 4 lakh, Pegu stated in a post on X. Colleges now accept ration cards as proof of family income instead of income certificates, he added.

"This year, 118,199 (71 percent) students out of 166,123 students have benefited from free admission as of yesterday evening," Pegu said. He mentioned that admission fees are set by colleges and universities, with the State Fee Regulation Committee determining the upper limit.

Dismissing reports of doubled admission fees, the Minister emphasized that the state government does not charge any fees from college students and instead provides a fee waiver scheme for BPL students. Sharing Pegu's post, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma highlighted that the state government paid Rs 103 crore to various colleges for student enrollments last year.