Maharashtra to waive higher education fees for girls with family income below Rs 8 lakh: Report

NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra government will soon waive fees of all female candidates whose families bring in an annual income of less than Rs 8 lakh, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil announced on Sunday.

According to a report by Times of India, Patil said that the Maharashtra government plans to reimburse the fees for all female students and an ordinance on this will soon be discussed in the state cabinet. The move aims to increase female enrolment in higher educational institutes in Maharashtra.

Currently, Maharashtra reimburses the fees of only the historically-marginalised Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students in higher educational institutions. The state government also reimburses 50% of the fees of students belonging to the other backward categories (OBCs) and economically weaker sections (EWS), provided that their family income does not exceed Rs 8 lakh per year.

EWS fees waiver

Last year in June, the state had also announced a 50% fee waiver for EWS students studying in self-financed higher educational institutes. Similarly, in 2022, the higher education minister had announced a complete fee waiver for students who lost their parents to Covid-19.

Maharashtra plans to take up the initiative from the next academic year 2024-25. The move is expected to benefit over 20 lakh women students, the ToI report added. Women students will have to submit an income certificate of their families to avail the benefit.