Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday (October 6, 2026) approved a string of decisions including increased allowances under scholarship and hostel schemes for ST and other backward students, a new ‘Mukhyamantri Shaurya Padak’ for police personnel for acts of bravery, a hike in royalty relief for the Wadar community in stone quarrying, and a compensation policy for custodial deaths.
Under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swayam Yojana, the government has approved a revision of allowances for Scheduled Tribe students. “As the number of Scheduled Tribe students enrolling in various courses has been increasing, the available admission capacity in government hostels has fallen short,” the CMO office said.
To make it easier for Scheduled Tribe boys and girls to pursue higher education while residing outside their native villages, the department operates government hostels at the divisional, district, taluka, and rural levels. Since the academic year 2016-17, the “Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swayam Yojana” has been implemented for Scheduled Tribe students pursuing higher education after class 12 who could not get admission into government hostels, receiving a lump-sum amount each year — for food, lodging, and maintenance allowance at fixed rates — credited directly to their bank accounts via DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer).
Accordingly, the revised rates of allowances, students studying in Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, and Nagpur will receive ₹80,000 yearly revised from ₹60,000, this includes food allowance ₹42,000, lodging allowance ₹28,000, and maintenance allowance ₹10,000. For students studying in other locations, the amount has been revised to ₹50,000 from ₹38,000
For students studying at other revenue divisional headquarters and ‘C’ category municipal corporation areas, the allowances will increase to ₹68,000 from ₹51,000. The medical and engineering students will receive a one-time amount of ₹8,000 per year for educational materials, while students in other streams will receive ₹4,000 per year.
Under the Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Swadhar Yojana, students from Scheduled Castes and Navbuddha categories who are eligible for government hostels but could not get admission into them to pursue higher education, and who are pursuing higher education in Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Nagpur, will now receive a total annual grant of ₹80,000.
Students studying at colleges and educational institutions in other district locations, as well as within a 5-kilometre radius of municipal corporation limits, will receive a total annual grant of ₹57,000. Students pursuing higher education at taluka-level locations will receive a total annual grant of ₹50,000, comprising ₹30,000 food allowance, ₹13,000 lodging allowance, and ₹7,000 maintenance allowance.
The decision to increase the honorarium for staff working in 2,388 hostels for Scheduled Caste students, including 1,804 hostels for boys and 584 for girls, with a total student capacity of 99,852. In hostels located in metropolitan areas as well as ‘A’ and ‘B’ category municipal corporation areas, the honorarium for superintendents will increase from ₹10,000 to ₹20,000, for cooks from ₹8,500 to ₹17,000, for helpers from ₹7,500 to ₹15,000, and for watchmen from ₹7,500 to ₹15,000. For hostels in the remaining areas of the state, the revised honorarium will be ₹15,000 for superintendents, ₹12,000 for cooks, ₹10,000 for helpers, and ₹10,000 for watchmen.
Other Cabinet decisions included, the announcement of Chief Minister Shaurya Medal which will be awarded to the officers and police personnel for risking their lives in the line of duty. This includes ₹50,000 cash, a medal and a certificate. The awardees will be decided by the three-tier committee system annually and announced on the eve of Maharashtra Day, May 1, every year.
Published – October 07, 2026 01:35 am IST
