Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the state budget in Bengaluru on Friday. (PTI)
In a bid to encourage girl child education, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that all girls studying in government institutions up to post-graduation will be given free education.
"Rs 95 crore of the budget would be spent on providing free education for all the girl students taking admission in government pre-university (11th and 12th), degree and post-graduation courses," Mr Siddaramaiah, who also holds the finance portfolio, said while presenting the Budget for 2018-19.
The provision of free education up to post-graduation is is expected to benefit 3.7 lakh girl students in the state.
In 2017, the state government had announced free education for girls from class 1 till graduation in government schools and government aided-private schools from 2018-19 academic year.
"A total of Rs 4,514 crore is being provided for higher education in 2018-19," Mr Siddaramaiah said, presenting his 13th state budget.
During 2018-19, 100 'Karnataka Public Schools' will be opened across the state at an expenditure of Rs 5 lakh per school, and a total expenditure of Rs 5 crore, he said.
The Chief Minister has earmarked Rs 22,350 crore in the 2018-19 Budget for primary and secondary education.
To ensure safety of the children at government primary and secondary schools, CCTV cameras will be installed in the upcoming fiscal, Mr Siddaramaiah said.
"Rs 5 crore has been allocated to provide digital library facility through cloud computing to around 10 lakh students studying in government high schools and pre-university colleges."
Mr Siddaramaiah also announced free bus passes to students from schools and colleges across the state from 2018-19, benefiting 19.6 lakh students.