Empowering Girls, Ending Child Marriage: What Is Assam Govt's Nijut Moina Scheme?

File Photo of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. (ANI)

Assam On Child Marriage: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday laid emphasis that the state government has taken a major step towards eradicating child marriage with the launch of a financial support initiative—the Nijut Moina scheme—to help the education of girl students in the state. The latest initiative taken by the government aims to cover 10 lakh girl students with an outlay of Rs 1,500 crore, and in the first year, more than 1.6 lakh girls will get Rs 240 crore.

Elaborating on the new initiatives for girl education, Sarma said that the government wants female students to not feel dependent on their parents to continue their higher education.

"Assam has started a big initiative today by launching Nijut Moina. Under this scheme, female students who study at the graduation level will receive a monthly scholarship of more than Rs 1,000, and those who pursue post-graduation are set to get Rs 2,500 per month to bear the education expenditure. In this way, we want female students to not depend on their parents to continue higher education," he said.

The Assam CM underlined that with the launch of this initiative, the cases of child marriage will come down in the northeastern state. "We are anticipating that Nijut Moina will be able to eradicate the evil of child marriage from the state," he said. He further stated that one of the primary conditions to avail of this scheme is that the female students will remain unmarried till they reach the post-graduation level.

"As the aim of this initiative is to eradicate child marriage, the female students studying at the graduation level must remain unmarried till they finish their undergraduate curriculum. Once they reach the post-graduation level, there is no bar to remaining unmarried to avail of the Nijut Moina scheme. At that point, they will reach their minimum age of marriage, and we also desire that the girls get married in a specific period and lead a happy life," he said.

Sarma also laid down another condition that no daughter of an MP, MLA, or Minister can get the benefits of this financial support initiative. He also underscored that the female students will attend regular classes in colleges and universities, and they will come up with good results in the examination.

In a post on X, Sarma said, "I believe this initiative will be a game changer to fight child marriage. #NijutMoina is unique as it incentivizes positive social outcomes, funds higher education, reduces family expenses, and bars child marriage by encouraging girls to remain in college."

"Overwhelming evidence of our past efforts has pointed us in today's direction. Studies have demonstrated how Assam's crackdown on child marriage has arrested maternal and infant mortality rates. With #NijutMoina, this social evil will get a final nail in the coffin," he further stated.

Overwhelming evidence of our past efforts has pointed us in today’s direction. Studies have demonstrated how Assam’s crack down on child marriage has arrested maternal and infant mortality rates. With #NijutMoina, this social evil will get a final nail in the coffin.

4/4 pic.twitter.com/nnW8LTEoW8 — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 6, 2024

Under the Nijut Moina scheme, each eligible female student enrolled in Class 11 will receive an incentive of Rs 1,000 per month for a maximum of 10 months, for a total of Rs. 10,000 per year. An incentive of Rs 1,250 per month for a maximum of 10 months, resulting in a total of Rs 12,500 per year, will be paid to each of the eligible female students enrolled in graduation in the first year.

Meanwhile, an incentive of Rs 2,500 per month for a maximum of up to 10 months, resulting in a total of Rs 25,000 per year, will be paid to each eligible female student enrolled in post-graduation first year.

(With IANS Inputs)