SHILLONG, Sept 3 (NNN): As many as nine community colleges across Meghalaya will be brought under People’s College Grant in aid scheme. Under this scheme the beneficiary colleges will get some government sanctioned posts for both the teaching and the non-teaching staff.
“So, in this endeavour the state government on February 4, 2020, during a cabinet meeting on the move in Jowai, it was decided to have ‘the people’s college planning scheme’. Under this scheme, the beneficiary colleges will get some sanctioned post for both the teaching and the non-teaching staffs and their salaries will fully be borne by the state government,” education minister Lahkmen Rymbui said here on Thursday.
The process that started from September 1 to provide quality and accessibility to higher education in the state. Around 40 posts, both teaching and non-teaching staff, were sanctioned recently at Nongtalang College under the People’s College Grant in aid scheme. While 31 posts were sanctioned in Jaintia Eastern College under the People’s College Grant in aid, the state government will sanction posts in seven other colleges in due course of time.
“We have taken three colleges in the Garo Hills region, three colleges in Khasi Hills region including Ri Bhoi and three colleges in the Jaintia Hills region. So, in the first phase we have done for Nongtalang College and Jaintia Eastern College, so others will follow soon,” the education minister said.
“With the implementation of this scheme, I hope that the students from those areas will greatly benefit, more importantly that we could reach different parts of the state,” he added.
He then said, “Different colleges will have different numbers of sanctioned posts, so the expenditure of this scheme for all the sanctioned posts in the first year itself will be over Rs 20 crore per year.“
Locations and number of sanctioned posts available are some of the criteria for determining the colleges, the minister added.
Stating that these are community colleges, Rymbui informed that only Ri Bhoi college at Nongpoh and Nongstoin college have some posts which are already sanctioned under the deficit system.
The government has sanctioned 43 posts in Nongstoin College, 31 in Ri Bhoi College, 26 in Shangpung College, 26 in Tirot Sing College, 31 in Jaintia Eastern College, 32 in Tura Christian College, 28 in Chokpot College, 33 in Ampati College and 40 in Nongtalang College.
