School students to get transport allowance in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Saturday decided to provide transport cost for students going to schools with distance exceeding 1 km radius.

The students of the closed schools will get the transport cost if they continue their study at the nearby schools.

The government has decided to close 966 schools across the state having less than 10 students.

“Students of the schools which will be shut down for having less than 10 students will be shifted to another school within 1 km and paid allowance to cover their travel expense including transportation and escort,” informed School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash.

If the distance exceeds 1 km, travel expense will be given to parents of the children. The cash amount will be given to the parents for 10 months in a year, informed Dash.

Students with more than 75 per cent attendance will be paid Rs 600 per month totalling to Rs 6000 for a period of 10 months.

Similarly, students with 50 to 74 per cent attendance will get Rs 400 per month totalling to Rs 4000 and students with 30 to 49 per cent attendance will get Rs 300 per month totalling to Rs 3000, the minister said.

However, students with less than 30 per cent attendance will not be eligible to avail the transportation cost, he added.