DIBRUGARH, Aug 20 - Higher Secondary under the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council students who passed in the year 2019 are now demanding of the Assam Government that they be given their e-bikes soon. It may be mentioned here that 22,000 first division passed girl students were to be given e-bikes by October 15 last year. The scheme was silently put to the backburner. The matter came up today after yesterday�s announcement by State Education Minister that e-bikes would be given to meritorious girl students who passed their higher secondary examinations this year.
Miffed at not getting their promised vehicles, quite a few of the 2019 batch students took to a Twitter campaign last evening. Some of the campaign activists, like Ankita Gogoi, Doyel Phukan, Simran Surana and Rishi Gogoi said they are just reminding the State Education Minister that their promised vehicles need to be delivered. Their hashtags were �#justicefor2019batchgirls� and �#PromisesMustBeKept�.
In 2017, a thousand meritorious girls from the AHSEC stable were provided scooties. At that time, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had promised to hike the number of beneficiaries to 5000. Of course, that did not happen. In 2018, there were no scooties on offer at all.
While the AHSEC affiliated students are getting merit related incentives, no such largesse exist for thousands of students who are also from Assam, and do their studies in Assam, but under different Boards, like CBSE and ICSE for Class 10 and ISC for Class 12 under the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE). Under these two Boards, Assam alone produces a significant number of highly meritorious students. However, the Assam Government all along has neglected these students and deprived them of any scholarly incentive.
Speaking to this reporter today, several parents of students who passed their Class 12 examinations with flying colours this year, said they feel saddened at the attitude of the government to patronize students of just one Board. Pursuing studies under the CBSE and ICSE/ISC is being blatantly looked down upon by the government, which is very unfortunate, said two parents who are in the State civil administration. They said they hope the Government will amend its policy to encourage all students. If done, a large segment of the State�s student community would feel included, said another parent, who is a senior executive with a PSU. He said the value of the incentive is not important, it�s the inclusivity that would be a morale booster. He seems so right.
