To up lift the academic standards of the students belonging to the scheduled castes families in the State, the Punjab Government has been successfully implemented scheme to provide free books to students.Disclosing this here today Welfare Minister Punjab Gulzar Singh Ranike said that under this scheme the children from class 1st to 10th are given books right in the beginning of an academic session. He said that all the scheduled castes students enrolled in the educational institutions of Government and aided have been covered under this scheme. During the academic sessions from 2007 to 2016 Rs. 216.65 crore has been spent on 1, 31,52,590 students across the state.
The Punjab Government introduced various welfare schemes for economically weaker sections of backward classes and others backward classes and it has already been provided across the State.Welfare Minister divulged that education was the only medium from which awareness could easily be generated among the weaker sections so that their economic and social status could be elevated. He reiterated that the Punjab Government was committed to provide welfare services to the general public. The Minister has also asked the officers of the department to ensure that the financial aid under various welfare schemes could reach the beneficiaries without any delay.