Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said the cost of commuting to schools often exceeded the scholarship money received by students, and added that the situation changed after the BJP came to power, with scholarship money now being credited to their bank accounts.

The chief minister also accused the Samajwadi Party of usurping scholarships meant for SC-ST students in 2016-17.

He was addressing a programme in Lucknow where scholarships and fee reimbursements were transferred to the bank accounts of more than 4.60 lakh students.

"Earlier, the cost of commuting often exceeded the scholarship amount a student received, and today, a bank account has been opened for every student's scholarship," he said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made arrangements for zero-balance bank accounts to be opened, which, he claimed, was not possible earlier.

"Back when we were students, the very idea of opening a zero-balance account was out of the question," Adityanath said.

(PTI)

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.