At least eight schemes launched for unreserved category in Gujarat; education and jobs on priority

Gandhinagar, August 11: With an aim to provide jobs and education to economically backward classes which are not entitled to any reservation quota benefits, the Gujarat government on Friday announced a total of eight schemes.

 

Notably, there are a total of 58 economically backward castes in Gujarat which are not entitled to any reservation quota benefits. Therefore eight schemes have been announced by CM Vijay Rupani-led government to provide them with financial assistance, jobs and education. Of the eight, seven schemes are for those with annual family incomes of Rs 3 lakh or less.

The schemes announced include the Educational Studies Scheme, the Foreign Studies Scheme and a scheme to create self-employment, among others. Under the Educational Studies Scheme, a person from the non-reserved category can avail a loan of up to Rs10 lakh for a college education at 4% interest every year. Besides the Rs3 lakh or below income criteria, the candidate has to secure 60% in 1the 2th grade.

The Foreign Studies Scheme will help a person who wants to pursue further studies after completing his 12th grade. The candidate can avail a loan of up to Rs 5 lakh for a 4% interest if he/she has secured 60% in the 12th grade and annual family income is Rs 4.5 lakh. Under the scheme to create self-employment, the state government will provide financial assistance of around Rs10 lakh. The interest rate for men is 5%, while for women it is 4%.

Gujarat currently has 49.5% reservation, including 7.5% for Scheduled Castes, 15% for Scheduled Tribes and 27% for OBCs. About 1.5 crore of Gujarat’s total 6.5 crore population does not avail any jobs or education-related government benefits and these eight schemes will cover a large number of them. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Patel allocated Rs 600 crore for empowering these 58 economically backward castes.