Pudhumai Pen Scheme

A man's great education is a glory to him alone, but a woman's education brings glory to the family. Apart from that, for a society to progress, female education is very important. For a woman to be equal to men she must be educated. Therefore, the government of Tamil Nadu has launched the Muvalur Ramamirtham Ammaiyar Memorial Higher Education assurance scheme called "Pudhumai Pen" on 05.09.2022 across Tamil Nadu.

The scheme aims to help 6 lakh women annually and has a budget allocation of Rs 698 crore.

Need

Last year, according to the "Performance Quality Index 2019-2020" report by the Union Education Ministry, Tamil Nadu ranked last among the southern states in terms of learning outcomes and quality. Also, according to the ASER 2018 report, one in four 8th class students in Tamil Nadu could not read 2nd class level texts and only 50% of the same class could do division. So programs like "Pudhumai Pen" are needed to improve the education quality in Tamil Nadu.

Aim

The scheme was launched with the aim of increasing the higher education enrolment rate of female students completed schooling in government schools by providing financial assistance.

Scheme Benefits

• The scheme encourages parents of female students to promote their daughter's higher education rather than marrying them off at an early age.
• Under the scheme Rs.1000 scholarship will be given to 25% of the female students enrolled for higher education across Tamil Nadu.
• The scholarship is directly credited to the student's bank accounts. Students are being issued debit cards too.

For 2022, it is reported that around 3 lakh girl students have applied under this scheme. It is envisaged that 9,981 government school girl students who enroll in engineering courses for the year 2022 under the 7.5 percent reservation will be given higher education assistance of Rs.1000 per month.

Eligibility Criteria

Following are the basic eligibility requirements for this scheme

1. Applicant must be a citizen of India residing in the state of Tamil Nadu.
2. Applicant must be a student. That too should have studied in a government school from 6th to 12th standard.
3. Applicant must be a female to avail benefits from this scheme.
4. This scheme is not applicable for distance education and open university students.

Required Documents

The documents required to enrol for the scheme are listed below

1. Aadhaar card or voter ID
2. Residence Certificate
3. 10th and 12th Mark sheet
4. Transfer certificate
5. Bank passbook
6. Family Income Certificate

Application Procedure

Online application can be made through the website https://penkalvi.tn.gov.in/.

Students have to register first and then login to fill the online application.