On Tuesday, July 5, the Tribal Affairs Department of Jammu & Kashmir launched a first-of-its-kind centre offering free coaching to meritorious tribal students preparing for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) exams, department officials said. Further, they said that the coaching will be sponsored by the department and the candidates qualifying for these exams will be given a scholarship, as stated in a report by PTI.
Secretary of the Tribal Affairs Department Shahid Iqbal Choudary said, "100 tribal students are being selected for NEET coaching in government-empanelled coaching institutes, under two different sub-schemes. The two sub-schemes are 'Host-50' for hostellers and 'Top-50' for other tribal meritorious students in the first year under the scheme which is being implemented through the education wing of the Tribal Research Institute."
Talking about the sponsorship and scholarship, the Secretary said, "The coaching fee for NEET and JEE at select institutions would be sponsored by the department after verification of attendance and evaluation. The candidates selected for courses like MBBS, BVSc and AH, BDS, BAMS, BE, BTech and other professional courses shall be provided with an annual scholarship of Rs 70,000-75,000 totalling around Rs 4 lakh."
Recollecting the recent schemes launched, he said, "In line with schemes like Technology-Enabled Education Scheme, enhancement of diet charges and tuition rates in hostels, the tribal affairs department has launched NEET/JEE coaching scheme with immediate effect." It is also said in a report by PTI that Lt Governor Manoj Sinha earlier stated that the "Jammu and Kashmir administration accords top priority to the education of tribal students" and is coming forward with many schemes that aim to provide and encourage their quality education.
Tribal Research Institute Deputy Director (Administration), Abdul Khabir said, "Under the 'Top-50' sub-scheme, applications have been invited from meritorious tribal students and 50 students with the highest marks, above 80 per cent in the Class XII Board exam, will be selected for coaching. Under the 'Host-50' sub-scheme, students enrolled in hostels will be selected through a screening test."
Giving details on the seats, the deputy director notified that there is a "50 per cent quota for girl students under hostel category while 25 per cent seats are reserved for girl students in the 'Top-50' scheme for NEET." He added that there is no income bar for the coaching scheme.
