Assam CM Office: Nijut Moina, Nijut Babu to cover more colleges
Synopsis
Assam's Chief Minister's Office announced the expansion of Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu financial aid schemes to cover more universities and nursing students, continuing CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's pattern of progressively broadening the state's student welfare safety net.
Key Takeaways
Nijut Moina (for girls) and Nijut Babu (for boys) are Assam's flagship direct financial assistance programmes for students in higher education.
The expansion will bring more universities and nursing students under the schemes' coverage.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has overseen periodic widening of both schemes since taking office in May 2021 .
Targeting nursing students addresses a specific gap in support for professional-course enrolees from economically vulnerable families.
Exact institutions, implementation timelines, and revised budget figures are yet to be officially disclosed.
Assam is widening the net of two of its flagship student welfare schemes — Nijut Moina for girls and Nijut Babu for boys — bringing more universities and nursing students under their financial umbrella, the Chief Minister's Office of Assam announced on Saturday, 17 October 2026.
What Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu actually do
Both schemes are direct financial assistance programmes designed to keep students in classrooms rather than pushing them toward early employment or, in the case of girls, early marriage. Nijut Moina — loosely translated as 'ten thousand darlings' — targets girl students, while Nijut Babu mirrors the structure for boys. Together, they represent the Assam government's most visible lever for attacking dropout rates at the post-secondary level.
The expansion to nursing students is a pointed move: nursing programmes sit at the intersection of healthcare workforce demand and socioeconomic vulnerability, with many enrolled students coming from families where every semester's fee is a genuine strain. Pulling that cohort into the scheme's coverage directly addresses a gap in professional-course support.
The pattern behind this expansion
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has overseen Assam's education and welfare agenda since May 2021, has periodically widened both schemes to include more institutions and course categories. Each round of expansion has followed a recognisable logic: identify segments of the student population still falling outside the safety net, then extend coverage before the academic cycle locks in enrolment decisions.
Adding more universities to the eligible list deepens the schemes' reach within higher education — an arena where financial pressure tends to spike sharply after the first year, precisely when dropout risk is highest.
What the state still needs to spell out
The specific list of newly covered universities, the revised disbursement amounts, and any updated budget allocation remain to be formally announced. Those details will determine how transformative this round of expansion actually is — a handful of institutions added is incrementally useful; a sweeping inclusion of all state nursing colleges would be structurally significant. The next state fiscal exercise will be the clearest test of whether the political commitment translates into adequate funding.
For now, the signal from Dispur is unambiguous: Assam's student welfare architecture is being deliberately broadened, one cohort at a time.
Point of View
Each expansion round reinforces a welfare-delivery brand ahead of electoral cycles. The inclusion of nursing students is also strategically shrewd: it aligns state spending with national health-workforce goals, giving the expansion a policy logic that reaches beyond the assembly constituency. The critical unknown remains funding depth — scheme breadth without adequate per-student disbursement risks becoming symbolic rather than transformative.
NationPress
17 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Nijut Moina scheme in Assam?
Nijut Moina is a state government financial assistance programme for girl students in Assam aimed at reducing dropout rates and supporting continuation of education at the higher-education level.
What is the Nijut Babu scheme?
Nijut Babu is the corresponding financial assistance programme for boy students in Assam, structured similarly to Nijut Moina, to encourage enrolment and retention in higher education.
Why is Assam expanding Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu to nursing students?
Nursing students often come from economically vulnerable families where tuition and living costs are a significant burden. Bringing them under the scheme's coverage addresses a gap in professional-course financial support and aligns with healthcare workforce development goals.
Which universities will be added under the expanded Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu schemes?
The specific list of newly eligible universities has not yet been officially disclosed. The state government is expected to release further details including institutional coverage and revised budget allocations.
Who oversees the Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu schemes?
The schemes fall under the Assam state government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been in office since May 2021 and has periodically expanded both programmes.
