The Maharashtra government has announced to bear the cost of education for college students who lost their parents due to COVID-19, the state higher and technical education minister, Chandrakant Patil said on Monday.
According to the official statement, Patil said that the state government will bear the education expenses of college students who have lost both their parents to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister made the announcement on the floor of the state Assembly while responding to a question by Congress legislator Shirish Chaudhary.
“As many as 931 undergraduate and 228 postgraduate students of various government colleges have lost both their parents to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government will pay their fees of the entire course,” Patil said.
According to the statement, the minister further said that the decision will cost the state exchequer more than Rs 2 crore annually, and there will be no need for the state government to pass similar decision every year.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government is contemplating to set up the Maharashtra Medical Service Commission to fill vacancies in government medical colleges, Medical Education minister Girish Mahajan said on Monday. The minister was responding to a question in the Maharashtra legislative council where he informed that the state has 22 government medical colleges.
As per the statement, of the 490 sanctioned posts of professors, 322 have been filled, while 920 of the 1,126 sanctioned posts for associate professors have been filled. The state has 1,765 assistant professors and 941 positions are vacant.
“We are contemplating establishing a Maharashtra Medical Service Commission to fill vacant posts,” Mahajan said in the Legislative Council. After communication with the Maharashtra Public Service Commission, the minister said he was informed the filling of vacancies will be expedited by August 30.
With inputs from PTI
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