Andhra CM releases fiscal aid to mothers under Amma-vodi scheme

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy has released the fiscal aid to mothers under the Amma-vodi scheme for the third consecutive year.

Rs 6595 crore, the CM said, was directly credited into the accounts of 43.96 lakh mothers from financially weak families sending their children to classes 1 to intermediate.

However, the annual monetary assistance in mothers' hands is reduced from Rs 15,000 to Rs 13,000 now.

“We are crediting Rs 13,000 into the beneficiary account and the remaining Rs 2,000 will be go into the TMF (Toilet Maintenance Fund) and SMF (School Maintenance Fund), to be used for maintenance of toilets and repair works in government schools,” Reddy said at a public meeting organized in Srikakulam on Monday.

Reddy slammed the opposition parties for criticism on the aid deduction and questioned “whether any party had ever provided financial aid to mothers for sending their children to school.”

The Chief Minister said his government had spent Rs 19,618 crore on Amma Vodi in the last three years.

The number of beneficiaries was also reduced this year.

51,000 mothers could not avail the benefit as their children did not meet the scheme parameter of having 75 percent attendance. The condition was relaxed earlier due to Covid.

“But as the schools started functioning normally, attendance was taken into consideration to ensure that the intended purpose of incentivizing mothers was not defeated,” Reddy said.

The CM claimed that “many revolutionary changes were initiated to impart quality education to students, to make them face the competitive world.”

The YSRCP government had recently made a pact with Byjus, an ed-tech company, to guide the students on CBSE content, free of cost.

“Students studying in private schools have to pay Rs 24,000 per year for such service,” Reddy said, adding that his government will provide free tabs worth Rs 12,000 to each of 4.7 lakh Class VIII students every year at a cost of Rs 500 crore.

“Our effort is to prepare them for the Class X exam in CBSE syllabus from the 2025 academic year onwards.”