Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy paid the financial assistance of Rs 6,595 crore under Amma Vodi scheme for the third consecutive year in Srikakulam on Monday. This amount would benefit 43,96,402 families for the education of their children.

Speaking on the occasion, Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the government has disbursed the financial assistance benefiting 82, 31,502 school students for the academic year 2021-22. He credited the financial assistance of Rs. 15,000 under the scheme into the bank accounts of mothers of school children studying from Class I to Class XII.

The Chief Minister claimed that by successfully implementing revolutionary measures under various schemes in the education sector, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of students enrolled in government schools. The strength has increased from 37.21 lakh in 2018-19 to 44.30 lakh students in 2021-22.

The Amma Vodi scheme gives a school-going child’s mother Rs 15,000 per year for educational expenditure. Out of this the government would use Rs. 2,000 for the use of the School Maintenance Fund (SMF) and Toilet Maintenance fund (TMF), he added.

“As of now, the government has spent Rs 19,617.53 crore benefitting 44.50 lakh mothers and 82.31 lakh children under the scheme. To ensure that the funds are used judiciously, the government has decided to implement mandatory attendance of 75 per cent for students which will enable their mothers to derive the benefits of the Amma Vodi scheme. But this time, the government has exempted the ‘minimum 75% attendance restriction’ in 2019-20 and 2021-22 due to the pandemic. Significantly, besides depositing money directly into mothers’ accounts, it also empowers mothers with the right to question the college management and demand accountability,” the chief minister asserted.