Number of beneficiaries of Pudhumai Penn Scheme on the rise every year: Minister

In a thanksgiving gesture, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women on Monday organised a ceremony to acknowledge and applaud the societal impact of the Pudhumai Penn Scheme being implemented by the State government.

In a thanksgiving gesture, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women on Monday organised a ceremony to acknowledge and applaud the societal impact of the Pudhumai Penn Scheme being implemented by the State government.

The institution invited Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise, V. Senthil Balaji, as chief guest for the ceremony to express its gratitude for bringing hundreds of students in the institution as beneficiaries under the scheme launched by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

Entailing financial assistance of ₹1,000 a month for female students belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families who had studied in government schools from levels VI to XII, the scheme is of benefit to 452 students enrolled in various undergraduate programmes in the institution.

In his special address, the Minister said the number of beneficiaries of Pudhumai Penn Scheme was on the rise every year, signifying an effective intervention to curb early marriages of women. Female students would continue to benefit from the scheme until they completed their doctorate degrees, Mr. Senthil Balaji said. The financial assistance is credited directly into the bank accounts of the students.

The Minister also honoured students who had excelled in various competitions in the presence of T. S. K. Meenakshisundaram, Managing Trustee of the Institute.

S. P. Thyagarajan, Chancellor, and V. Bharathiharishankar, Vice-Chancellor, said the Pudumai Penn Scheme had helped in literary emancipation of girls from BPL families. S. Kowsalya, Registrar, also spoke.