What’s in the news?

• The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is set to launch the Scheme for Residential Education For Students in High schools in Targeted Areas (SHRESTHA).

About the Scheme

• SHRESHTA has been conceived to provide access to high quality residential education to the meritorious poor students from Scheduled Caste communities, whose parental annual income is up to Rs. 2.5 Lakh per annum, at free of cost from class 9th to class 12th.
• Under this, each year a specified number of meritorious SC students in States / UTs are selected through a transparent mechanism of a National Entrance Test for SHRESHTA (NETS), conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA ). 
• Entire cost of school fee and hostel fee including food charges shall be borne by the Government of India. 
• The Students under the Scheme may select any school across the country for their academics.

Reference:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1830449