As a stride towards enhancing the education of women and ridding the state of the malpractice of early child marriage, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday disbursed the first installment of stipends to girl students under the newly launched ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme of the state. The scheme was launched in August 2024 to avail girls studying from Class 11 up to Post-Graduation with a monthly stipend to move up the education ladder and avoid early marriages.
Assam CM Launches ‘Nijut Moina’ Scheme Fights Child Marriage, Aims to Promote Education for Women
It started at a special function held in Guwahati where CM Sarma himself dispensed stipends for several girl students, and innumerable such functions are being conducted throughout the state. This is the first step in an initiative from which the government is hopeful that it will bring about social transformation in the lives of girls with the ability to impart education.
Key Objectives of the ‘Nijut Moina’ Scheme
#NijutMoina aims to cover 10 lakh girl students with an outlay of ₹1,500cr. In the first year, over 1.6 lakh girls will get ₹240cr.
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 6, 2024
Rules are simple
✅️Regular classes, good results & discipline
🚫Not daughter of Minister/MLA/MP
🚫No Marriage till PG
3/4 pic.twitter.com/q4JNIn2H0e
The ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme clearly has two goals: Firstly, the aim is to raise girls’ education levels, and secondly, it is aimed at stopping child marriages in Assam. Evidently, the state government of Assam had fixed an ambitious target of completely **eradicating child marriage by 2026 and financial assistance available under this scheme is a part of that process.
Today, Assam has taken a big step forward,” said Sarma. Under this scheme, all girls studying in higher secondary will get Rs 1,000 per month, while degree students will get Rs 1,250, and post-graduate students will get Rs 2,500.
This financial support, said Sarma, is to lighten the burden on the family and to keep the daughters in school. “‘Nijut Moina’ scheme forms part of our efforts towards bettering women’s education in the state,” he said. “It is based on already existing initiatives like free admissions and various incentives but goes a notch higher as it raises revenue to tackle the family’s financial issue of sending their daughters to school,”
Impact on women’s education and social change
The Assam government has taken progressive steps for elevating the education sector and providing equal opportunities for girls. The ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is a further continuation of this series of work in which it targets at eliminating all socio-economic barriers leading girls to drop out from their school and take up an early marriage.
Thus, addressing the importance of the scheme, CM Sarma said, “The rule is simple: girls have to attend classes regularly, perform well in academics, and lead disciplined lives. It is only then that these stipends would be meant for the families, but the students have to be committed to their studies.”.
In an effort to make it fair and benefit trickle down to more needy, CM Sarma went ahead to add that the ‘Nijut Moina’ allowance will not be made for the daughters of cabinet ministers, MLAs, or MPs. Secondly, one of the strict criteria of the program is that none of the beneficiaries would be entitled to marry until they finish post-graduation studies.
“This initiative is a game-changer,” Sarma said. “Keeping girls in the education system longer can reduce the social and financial pressures that lead to early marriages.”
Eradication of Child Marriage by 2026
One of the priority areas chosen by the Assam state government to eradicate is Child Marriage, which is the most widespread social evil and is linked with high maternal and infant mortality. Preventing early marriage has been identified through several studies as one of the surest ways to keep girls at school and allow them to complete their formal education. With ‘Nijut Moina’, the government’s scheme is taken right back to the root of the problem.
However, Sarma highlights how the previous efforts already brought in considerable improvements in maternal and infant health. “Our crackdown on child marriage has already produced results,” he said. “By reducing early marriages, we’ve seen changes in positive movements in maternal and infant mortality rates. With ‘Nijut Moina’, we hope to deliver the final blow to this social evil.”
Where there is a will, there is a way. For Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, providing financial incentives for education is synonymous with the ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme in encouraging girls to stay at school and eliminating the possibility of early marriage. “It will change the lives of girls, but at the same time, it will begin to transform the social landscape of Assam,” he says.
Social Media Response and Future Goals
Taking to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), CM Sarma reiterated the transformational potential of the scheme. “I believe this initiative will be a game-changer to fight child marriage. #NijutMoina is unique as it incentivizes positive social outcomes, funds higher education, reduces family expenses, and bars child marriage by encouraging girls to remain in college,” tweeted Sarma.
This initiative is expected to bring about an impact on hundreds and thousands of girls in Assam and hopefully work towards having a rippling effect in society at large. This way, with the girls staying in school for a longer period, the government can expect that they would be able to shape a future in which more women would be able to progress toward their academic and professional fulfillment, apart from leading the state toward economic development and social progress.
Turning Point in Woman Empowerment for Assam
The release of ‘Nijut Moina’ has once again been a milestone for Assam in its journey toward making the environment more safe and equitable for young women. In this process, through the role of education as an instrument of social change, the state government presents its agenda on commitment to women’s empowerment and the elimination of child marriage.
It’s not just about stipends. This is an opportunity for young girls to decide their own future; if they want to live on their own, if they are given an education, the ‘Nijut Moina’ program ensures that is exactly what they can do.
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