Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s government recently launched the “Chief Minister Equal Education Relief, Assistance and Grant (Cheerag)” scheme.
Under the Cheerag scheme, government school students whose parents have an annual verified income of less than Rs 1.8 lakh can enroll in private schools from Class II to XII. The government will reimburse Rs 700 per student from Classes II to V, Rs 900 per student from Classes VI to VIII, and Rs 1,100 per student from Classes IX to XII.
As many as 533 “budget” private schools – mostly in villages and small towns — applied to offer seats to EWS students under the Cheerag scheme. However, the authorities found only 381 schools eligible due to different technical reasons.
These 381 private schools offered 24,987 seats for EWS students from government schools. However, only 1,665 students have preferred to opt for the scheme, which is just 6.66 per cent of the total offered seats.