Jagan announces Rs 15,000 to moms educating their kids

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday said that his government will give Rs 15,000 to every mother in the state if she sends her children to school. He was speaking during the launch of ‘Rajanna Badi Bata’, a programme held at the Government Zilla Parishad High School in Penumaka, aimed at encouraging economically backward parents to educate their children.

The chief minister who held the hands of a child as she wrote her first alphabets on the slate, said that on January 26, the incentive will be disbursed all over the state to mothers. “During my 3468 km of Padayatra I have noticed that poor parents were unable to educate their children due to lack of money to pay exorbitant fees charged by the private schools. I vowed that I will see that no poor parents go bankrupt educating his or her children,” he said.

He asked the Education Department to take snaps of all the 40,000 odd schools for comparison. “I promise you that I will change each one of them within two years,” he said. Most of the schools lack basic infrastructure such as toilets, compound walls and power supply. “While the national average of illiteracy stands at 26 %, it is 33% in AP,” he said, adding that a major overhaul of the system had to be undertaken.

He assured the parents that from now onwards the books and uniforms will be ready before the academic year starts. “Earlier the three pairs of uniforms and the books were not distributed even after September. We will keep them ready by April or May,” Jaganmohan Reddy said. Rajanna Badi Bata is one of the projects under Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s Navaratnas (Nine Gems) concept for multi-pronged development of the state