New Delhi : Pre-poll sops for Sonia Gandhi’s bastion

 

New Delhi, 12 July 2013 (TOI): In a pre-election bonanza to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareliconstituency, the Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared the proposal for an all-women central university and a National Aviation University.

In order to help ST students avail professional education, the Cabinet also decided to increase the total family income ceiling under its scholarship scheme from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4.50 lakh per annum from this fiscal.

 

While the all-woman central university would be named after Indira Gandhi, the aviation varsity would be called Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University.

Indira Gandhi National University for Women would be set up at a cost of Rs 500 crore during the 12th Plan. A bill to establish the university will be introduced in the coming monsoon session of Parliament. In a statement, government said, "The establishment of the varsity would "set the pace for all-round growth and development of women in the country and supplement the efforts of the government for women’s empowerment by giving them an increased access to employment oriented basic courses and high-end research." Of the total of 121 crore population in the country, there are 58.6 crore women. They constitute 9.5 crore of population in Uttar Pradesh alone.

Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University would impart complete training to pilots, cabin crew and aircraft engineers. It would be set up on a 26-acre plot of land at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy (IGRUA) at Fursatganj. It would have an estimated fundingof Rs 202 crore during the 12th Plan, of which Rs 80 crore has already been sanctioned by the Centre. The university would be an autonomous body under the administrative control of the civil aviation ministry. A Bill to establish the university is likely to be brought in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, Tewari said.

The decision was approved by the Union Cabinet on Thursday.

As for the ST scholarship the central sector scholarship scheme of "top class education for ST students" had come into effect from 2007-08 for providing adequate financial support to ST students for pursuing education in selected premier institutions of the country. Government said the decision does not entail any additional burden. The expenditure on account of revision of the scheme would be met under the existing budget allocation for each year.