As many as 21 students of scheduled tribal areas of the state, who are beneficiaries of post- matric scholarship scheme called on Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here today and shared their academic experiences with him. The Chief Minister said that the state government was offering loan upto Rs. 20 lakh at the interest of one percent to the students under Dr. Y.S. Parmar Vidyarthi Rhin Yojna for pursuing higher education and professional courses.
He urged the students to avail this facility and achieve their goals in life. He said that the State Government had undertaken various reforms in the education sector to provide quality education to the students nearer to their homes. Sh. Sukhu stated that the state government had brought over 156 schools of the State under CBSE pattern in which Arts, Science and Commerce streams were being taught to the students.
He said that due to pragmatic efforts of the state government, sea change had been witnessed in the education sector and Himachal Pradesh had improved its position to 6 from 13 in providing quality education to the students in a recently conducted nationwide survey. He said that the state government has also increased the marriageable age of girls from 18 to 21 years at par with boys.
The Scheduled Tribes Garmia Utsav was being celebrated from 10 May to 9 June, 2026 in the State to acquaint the role of ST community in the field of education. Secretary, Education Rakesh Kanwar, Director, Higher Education Harish Kumar and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.