Amma Vodi Srirama Raksha For Every Child Who Wants To Study: YS Jagan

Nellore, Jan 11: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has credited Rs 6673 crore into the accounts of 44.48 lakh mothers benefiting over 84 lakh children across the State under Jagananna Amma Vodi scheme. With the constant efforts by the State government, through Amma Vodi, Goru Muddha and Vidya Kanuka schemes, an additional four lakh students were enrolled in government schools this year, as the government schools have facilities on par with corporate schools.

Addressing the gathering here on Monday, the Chief Minister said that no mother should be deprived of sending her child to school due to poverty and no child should end up going as labour instead of getting educated. He said that within eight months of forming the government, Rs 15,000 was credited to the account of mother’s for sending their children to schools. The Chief Minister described Amma Vodi as Sri Rama Raksha for every child who wants to study and is assured to take the responsibility as a maternal uncle.
This year, the State government is crediting Rs 14,000 to the beneficiaries' account and the remaining Rs 1,000 will be credited to the DTMF (District Toilet Management Fund), which will be used for the maintenance of toilets in government schools. The Chief Minister said that the government has taken this decision as around 12 to 23 percent of girl students are quitting education every year due to the absence or poor condition of toilets in schools as per UNICEF and WHO reports. Also, the World Bank Report clearly stated that spending every rupee on toilets will yield an economic benefit of Rs 34.

The Chief Minister said that mothers of children studying from 9 to 12 classes will have the option to take a laptop in place of the Amma Vodi incentive from next year. In order to enhance the computer skills of students studying in government schools and provide feasibility for online classes, the State government has brought this option and all the laptops will be offered with a warranty for three years. The laptop will have 4GB RAM, a 500GB hard disk with Windows 10 OS features costing around Rs 25,000--27,000. In addition to this, the students in government schools will be having a computer literacy program from Class 8 onwards, which is part of their curriculum.

Further, the Chief Minister said that Internet facilities will be provided in every village in the next three years, through underground cables at an estimated expenditure of Rs 5900 Crore. Also, he stated that from February 1, all the 55607 anganwadis will be changed as YSR Pre-Primary-1, YSR Pre-Primary-2 and YSR Pre-First class and will be taught in English medium and for this initiative, the government will be spending Rs 4,000 Crore. Besides these, the Chief Minister said that the parents will be sent an alert through message if their child doesn’t attend school for a single day, and if the child is still absent on the third day, village volunteers will be sent home to enquire about the health condition or the reason for being absent. He said that it is the responsibility of the parents to send their children to schools and it's the responsibility of secretariat staff, volunteers, parent committees,s and teachers to ensure that children are attending the school regularly. He asserted that the government aims to make 100 percent literacy in the next three years.

On education alone, the government spent Rs 24,000 Crore in a span of 19 months. He said that the previous TDP government had closed several schools, maintained government schools in dilapidated condition and left dues to midday meal workers for over eight months.

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has alerted people of the state on the temple desecration issue and hit out at the opposition parties. He stated that a few people with vested interests have been demolishing the temple idols when there is no movement of people and during the night time. He asked the public to be careful with such elements and said that these people may attack the schools too. He has questioned what made the opposition leaders visit the temple premises after the damage was done. The Chief Minister said that coverts of Chandrababu are trying to risk the lives of people and conduct elections.