Sukhu orders removal of caste column from school admission forms

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday ordered that the caste column be removed from admission forms in schools from the next academic session.

He issued the direction while chairing the meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Scheduled Caste Welfare Board (HPSCWB) here. 

Sukhu said his Government is committed to eliminating caste-based discrimination in society and promoting fraternity and equality, and the removal of the caste column would be a step in this direction.

According to a statement, Sukhu, however, insisted that the students of the Scheduled Caste community must continue to give their caste details when availing themselves of Government schemes and benefits.

The chief minister said his Government has launched several schemes for the welfare of the community, and would further disseminate their benefits so that more people could avail them. He said that under the Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Swarozgar Saur Yojana, the State Government has been providing subsidies for setting up projects ranging from 100 KW to 2 MW. A subsidy of 5 per cent was being provided for projects in tribal areas and 4 per cent in other areas.

He said the Government has also been providing loans of up to Rs 20 lakh to meritorious students for higher education at a one per cent interest rate.

The Government is going to implement the Apna Parivar Sukhi Parivar Yojana for extremely poor families, providing them 300 units of free electricity, and women from these families a monthly pension of Rs 1,500.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil said his department has allocated nearly Rs 315 crore in the current financial year on schemes for the social and economic upliftment of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, women, children and senior citizens.

A corpus of Rs 1,105 crore, in addition, has been allocated under the Scheduled Caste Development Programme, he said.