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Naidu rolls out ‘Thalliki Vandanam', expanding Jagan's Amma Vodi scheme. 24 lakh more students covered
Though Naidu's Thalliki Vandanam (meaning 'salutation to mother' in Telugu) promise was inspired and a recreation of YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy's Amma Vodi (mother's lap) scheme, it is an upgrade, expanding the ambit and number of beneficiaries of the aid.
'Thalliki Vandanam' was one of the 'Super Six' guarantees in the manifesto of the Telugu Desam Party-Jana Sena Party (TDP-JSP), which helped the combine, in alliance with the BJP, win the state elections in a landslide victory against the YSR Congress Party last year.
Hyderabad: Starting its second year in power in Andhra Pradesh, the Chandrababu Naidu government has initiated disbursal of the much-awaited Rs 15,000 financial assistance per annum per child to 42.69 lakh eligible mothers sending their children to school.
Unlike Amma Vodi assistance limited to one child per mother during Jagan's rule, Thalliki Vandanam aid is being given regardless of the number of school-going children in an eligible family.
'Our promise was that no matter how many children a family has, every student would receive Thalliki Vandanam support, and today we have kept our word, as the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government marks its first year,' Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu told reporters at the first anniversary event Thursday in Amaravati.
Thus, while 42.61 lakh students were covered earlier under Jagan's scheme, the coverage now is 67.27 lakh—an increase of 24.66 lakh beneficiaries.
Though an electoral assurance, Thalliki Vandanam financial aid to all children in a family under the welfare programme is seen as part of Naidu's mission to maintain or improve the demographic dividend, even as fertility rates dip in Andhra Pradesh.
Of the 67.27 lakh beneficiaries, 29.82 lakh are from Backward Classes, 11.76 lakh Scheduled Castes, 4.26 lakh Scheduled Tribes, 66,500 from minority communities, and 8.44 lakh from 'Economically Backward Classes'.
'This is a step toward demographic equity,' Naidu said, noting that there are 18,55,760 families with one child, 29,10,644 with two, 6,32,052 with three, and 80,212 with four children.
'Across South India, population is declining. Once, parents with more than two children were disqualified from contesting in local body elections. Now, with fewer than two children becoming common, such disqualifications have become superfluous,' Naidu added.
Both Amma Vodi and Thalliki Vandanam are direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes, in which funds are credited directly to the accounts of mothers or recognised guardians of children.
However, much like under Jagan, Rs 2,000 out of every Rs 15,000 per student will be deducted at source from the beneficiary and utilised for the overall development of the education ecosystem, i.e. towards schools infra maintenance, hygiene/sanitation, etc.
'While the YRSCP disbursed Rs 5,540 crore annually to beneficiaries, we are allocating Rs 8,745 crore, which is Rs 3,205 crore more,' said Naidu, as all necessary government orders were issued from the school education department Thursday, the first anniversary of his fourth term in office. Overall, under the scheme, Rs 10,091 crore will be spent this year, of which Rs 1,346 crore will go towards improving school infrastructure.
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Thalliki Vandanam
Thalliki Vandanam was launched to incentivise underprivileged parents to send their children for formal education, and focuses on making school education more accessible and inclusive, as well as improve learning outcomes.
The scheme is applicable from Classes I to XII (i.e., including intermediate education) in all recognised government, private aided and private unaided schools and junior colleges, including residential institutions, in Andhra Pradesh from the 2025-26 academic year.
Apart from the weak financial status of families, eligibility criteria include 75 percent attendance in the previous academic year.
The scheme was not implemented in the previous academic year, though, prompting YSRCP to accuse Naidu of reneging on his 'Super Six' promises in the first year of governance itself.
On Thursday, YSRCP MLA Tatiparthi Chandrasekhar termed the ruling coalition's one year governance as authoritarian and deceptive. Speaking to reporters at YSRCP central office at Tadepalli, Tatiparthi accused Naidu of 'betraying' Andhra Pradesh's people with unfulfilled 'Super Six' promises. 'Naidu's rule is a saga of deceit and broken promises.'
He said the Thalliki Vandanam scheme covered only 67.27 lakh of 87.41 lakh eligible mothers, 'short-changing them by Rs 5,000 crore'. He also disapproved of the deduction of Rs 2,000 at source.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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