Maharashtra raises monthly allowance for OBC hostel students to Rs 1,500 from Rs 600

The Maharashtra government has approved more than doubling the maintenance allowance for students from Other Backward Classes (OBC) who stay in hostels away from home to study. The decision, taken around Diwali, will benefit students from OBC, Vimukta Jati, Nomadic Tribes and Special Backward Class categories.

Under the new arrangement, students living in divisional-level hostels will receive a maintenance allowance of Rs 1,500 a month. Students in district-level hostels will be given Rs 1,300 a month.

Until now, students in both kinds of hostel received only Rs 600 a month, the same amount at divisional and district level. The amount has now been raised substantially so that students have more money in hand for their day-to-day needs.

The decision was taken today at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The government took 12 major decisions at the meeting. Among them, the increase in the maintenance allowance under the hostel scheme of the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department is considered significant. The Cabinet approved the proposal, and OBC Minister Atul Save announced it. According to the government, thousands of students who study while living in hostels will get financial relief.

To make education possible for students of these categories, 72 hostels for boys and girls together are run across 36 districts of the state. Students in these hostels have to live away from home. Besides accommodation, they spend on food, study material and other daily needs. An allowance of just Rs 600 fell short. The higher amount will make it easier to manage these expenses.

The aim of the decision is that students living away from home to study should not face a shortage of money. With the higher allowance, they will be able to depend on themselves to some extent for daily needs. The financial burden on their parents will also ease. Students have welcomed the government's decision, which has come as a big relief to students of the categories concerned around Diwali.