Andhra Pradesh Government has released ₹6,695 crore under ‘Amma Vodi’, a scheme to encourage mothers to send their children to schools.
“’Jagananna Amma Vodi’ scheme is a revolutionary step in transforming the lives of millions of families in Andhra Pradesh,’‘ the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said while formally disbursing ₹6,595 crore financial assistance in Srikakulam on Monday.
The amount has been credited directly to the accounts of the students’ mothers studying in government schools from class 1 -12 in the State.
For the third consecutive year, the Andhra Pradesh Government has disbursed the financial assistance benefiting over 82 lakh school students, he added.
“There has been a *remarkable increase in students enrolled in government schools from 37.21 lakh in 2018-19 to 44.30 lakh in 2021-22 due to various schemes introduced by the Government, Reddy said.
Benefits
The Amma Vodi scheme provides a school-going child’s mother ₹15,000 per year for educational expenditure, out of which the government would use ₹2,000 towardsSchool Maintenance Fund (SMF) and Toilet Maintenance fund (TMF).
So far, the state government had spent ₹19,617.53 crore benefitting 44.50 lakh mothers and 82.31 lakh children under the scheme. To ensure judicious usage of funds, the government has mandated 75 per cent attendance to avail the benefits of the scheme.
However, the government has exempted the ‘minimum 75% attendance restriction’ in 2019-20 and 2021-22 due to the pandemic.
In the last 36 months, the State Government ‘s expenditure on welfare schemes in the education sector stood at ₹52,600.65 crore, according to a release.