CM office to pick nodal dept for girls’ fee waiver scheme

Lucknow: Almost four years after chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced a fee waiver for one of the two sisters if both were studying in the same school, things have now started rolling. The basic education department has put up a file to the CM's office to decide on the nodal department for implementation of the scheme aimed at boosting girl child education.When contacted, additional chief secretary, basic and secondary education Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma said, "We have already put up a file to the CM office to decide the nodal department. The file has not come back yet with orders."Sources, however, said that the govt chose the women welfare department as the nodal department for the initiative.Announced in 2021 by the CM, the scheme encouraged school management to waive the fee of one girl if two real sisters studied in the same school. If they did not, the same was reimbursed by the state govt. In Feb 2022, this scheme, which required the education department to collect data from the families of girl children in the state, was suspended by the Election Commission in 2022, citing a violation of the model code of conduct due to the assembly election then. The election body thus directed the state to suspend the scheme until after the polls.