Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Wednesday complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Tamil Nadu was allotted an inadequate number of contact class centres under UDAAN, a Union government scheme to mentor girls to compete for admission to the IITs and the NITs.
Of the 151 centres nationwide, Tamil Nadu got just two. Terming this “surprising,” Mr. Panneerselvam said in a letter to Mr Modi that Tamil Nadu, a leading State in education, would have a number of students eligible for the scheme. Pointing out that many other States were allotted a larger number of centres, he said the inadequate number of centres in a large State like Tamil Nadu with a substantial number of girl students in the science stream would put off the candidates as they had to travel a long distance to contact classes. “Even more surprising is the fact that Chennai, the largest city in Tamil Nadu and a leading metropolis, does not have a contact centre, unlike other metropolitan cities.”
He requested the Prime Minister to have the flaws in the scheme examined and increase the number of contact centres in the State. He also wanted the last date for submission of applications extended to November 30.
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