Admission norms for calamity-hit children relaxed in Uttarakhand

Relaxing admission norms for children hit by the June natural calamity, the Uttarakhand, government will give them admission in Rajiv Gandhi Navoday Vidyalayas of the state without an entrance test while those orphaned in the tragedy will be given free education.

Directives to this effect were issued by Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar while presiding over a meeting of Uttarakhand Boarding Schools Committee here last evening, an official release here said.

Rajiv Gandhi Navoday Vidyalayas are being run in all the 13 districts of the state in which a total of 2711 students study, Director General of School Education Radhika Jha said at the meeting.

She said rules have been framed for appointment to different posts in these schools including those of Principal and Vice-Principal. It has also been decided that 20 per cent of grade pay will be disbursed to employees of the education department during their deployment in remote hill areas, she said.

She also said that 80 per cent of children from rural areas and 20 per cent of children from urban areas will be given admission in Rajiv Gandhi Navoday Vidyalayas which are equipped with all necessary facilities like the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Presiding over another meeting of the state level monitoring and steering committee of the mid-day meal scheme, the chief secretary asked officials concerned to conduct a base line survey of children suffering from malnutrition, the release said.

Uttarakhand figures among the top five states in the Uttarakhand figures among the top five states in the country in the implementation of mid-day meal scheme, Jha said.

The meal offered to school-going children under the scheme is tasted before being served and women assigned the task of preparing these meals have been asked to wash their hands properly before cooking, the DG, school education said.

Mid-day meal is being provided to children in 12477 primary and 5259 upper primary schools of Uttarakhand and standards of safety and hygiene are being strictly adhered to, she said.

PTI

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