Two crore girl students benefit

Sources said the government has spent Tk 407.39 crore for implementation of the project and the number of beneficiaries have increased four times in the last four years.

The government has earmarked a revenue expenditure of Tk 466 crore for the programme for the next three and a half years.

Director of the stipend project Mohammad Abdur Razzak told BSS that the project was introduced to 453 upazilas in 1994.

The government is financing the project in 282 upazilas, the World Bank in 118 upazilas and the Asian Development Bank in 53 upazilas, he said.

The programme covers 15,350 schools and madrasas across the country. The government spent nearly Tk 600 crore for the project in the last four years.

The number of beneficiaries under the programme stood at 12,70,590 up to June 2005; 22,00,779 in 2004; 35,18,000 in 2003, 50,00,000 in 2002 and 47,20,000 in 2001.

Under the programme, the girl students from class-VI to class-X are being given stipends and the money for monthly tuition fee.