Bengaluru, 6 March

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced a wide range of education, welfare and infrastructure initiatives for minority communities in the State Budget.

To meet growing demand for student accommodation, the government will start 25 new post-metric hostels with a capacity of 150 students each in high-demand districts. The intake in 25 existing hostels will also be increased by 50 students.

Ten Saint Shishunala Shariff Residential Schools with the CBSE curriculum will be established this year with an allocation of Rs 10 crore. A further 25 schools will be started in 2026–27.

The government will upgrade 117 Maulana Azad Model Schools and Urdu Schools into Karnataka Public Schools for Rs 600 crore. An additional 100 schools will be upgraded this year at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

PUC Science and Commerce streams will be introduced in 25 Morarji Desai Residential Schools, while the Commerce stream will begin in 18 APJ Abdul Kalam Residential Schools. Four minority residential schools will be developed as Centres of Excellence to provide coaching for K-CET, JEE and NEET examinations.

To support women, four working women’s hostels with a capacity of 100 each will be set up in Bengaluru. Another 10 hostels for SC/ST working women will be established in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi.

The government earmarked Rs 100 crore for the comprehensive development of Jain, Buddhist and Sikh communities and announced a Rs 6,000 monthly honorarium for Dhammacharis of the Buddhist community.

To promote digital education, 5,000 economically weaker meritorious students will receive Rs 50,000 each to purchase laptops.

Under an entrepreneurship scheme, unemployed minority youth will receive Fast Food Truck Trailers or Mobile Kitchen Food Kiosks with 75 per cent subsidy up to Rs 3 lakh. Minority Women Co-operative Societies will also be formed to support women’s self-help groups.

Hajj Bhavans will be constructed in Hubballi and Kalaburagi, while 31 women’s PU colleges under Waqf institutions will be upgraded to degree colleges.. Waqf properties in prime commercial areas will be developed through a public-private partnership model.

The Budget also includes Rs 660 crore for constructing buildings in 30 KREIS residential schools.

Other announcements include developing the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering on an IIT model with Rs 500 crore, 90 days’ maternity leave for female guest lecturers, student union elections in higher education institutions, and digital libraries and study centres in Dharwad and Bengaluru to aid competitive exam preparation.