Guwahati, July 10 -- Nearly 18,000 meritorious students will receive scooters under the Dr Banikanta Kakati Meritorious Award this year, after which the Assam government will bring the scheme to an end and redirect its budget towards other education-related welfare programmes.

The decision was announced by Finance Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah while presenting the 2026-27 State Budget in the Assembly on Thursday. He said the government intends to utilise the funds to expand support for a wider range of students across the state.

Student assistance programmes Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu will also restart from August, the minister said.

Budget figures show that the schemes have already covered more than 5.44 lakh girl students, with finan...