Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on 12 August 2025 distributed more than ₹646 crore in scholarships and educational assistance to over 4,72,260 students at a ceremony held at Swarnim Sankul in Gandhinagar. The bulk of the disbursement — over ₹513 crore — went to more than 4 lakh girls who cleared their Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations under the state's flagship Namo Lakshmi scheme. All transfers were processed through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), bypassing intermediaries.

Scheme-wise Breakdown

The Namo Lakshmi scheme accounted for the largest share, channelling ₹513 crore to over 4 lakh girl students who passed Class 10 and Class 12 boards. An additional ₹28 crore was distributed to more than 57,000 students who cleared the Class 12 science-stream examination under the Namo Saraswati Vigyan Sadhana scheme, which targets girls pursuing science at the higher secondary level.

A further ₹105 crore was disbursed under higher-education and scholarship schemes. Of this, ₹96 crore reached 7,260 students through programmes including the Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana, the Scheme of Developing High Quality Research (SHODH), the Mukhyamantri Shri Scholarship Yojana, and the Mukhyamantri Kanya Kelavani Nidhi Yojana. An additional ₹9 crore was provided as institutional grants to 48 educational bodies.

What the Government Said

Chief Minister Patel credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with laying the foundation for Gujarat's education-led development. 'The state government's focus on education, health and security had helped advance the Prime Minister's vision of promoting girls' education,' Patel said at the event.

Patel also noted that the Namo Lakshmi and Namo Saraswati schemes had 'produced good results, particularly in encouraging girls to pursue science.' He called for closer collaboration between teachers and communities, saying the 'spirit of curiosity' among students required the teaching community to develop 'greater preparedness' in equal measure.

Education Minister Pradyuman Vaja, invoking Swami Vivekananda, said: 'Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.' He framed the disbursement as part of a broader commitment to making Gujarat an instrument of the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, adding that 'no girl should be deprived of education because of financial difficulties.'

Impact on Enrolment and Attendance

Minister of State for Education Rivaba Jadeja cited figures showing that girls' enrolment in higher secondary education rose by 16 per cent in the scheme's first year. The number of girls in Classes 9 to 12 with attendance above 80 per cent increased by approximately 73 per cent, while science-stream students with attendance between 80 and 100 per cent rose by 125 per cent.

Jadeja attributed the turnaround partly to the Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani campaigns, launched in 2003 when Modi was Gujarat's Chief Minister. She said the state's school enrolment rate had climbed from around 75 per cent to 99.99 per cent, while the dropout rate had fallen from 37 per cent to approximately 1 per cent.

What Comes Next

The Chief Minister also announced an ongoing campaign to identify children who have discontinued schooling and facilitate their re-enrolment, signalling that the state's education push extends beyond financial transfers to structural retention. Senior officials from the Education, Higher and Technical Education, Finance, and Health departments attended the event, with teachers, parents, and students from across Gujarat joining virtually — indicating the state's intent to scale engagement beyond the ceremony.