Puducherry: Puducherry government has modified rules relating to grant of financial assistance to medical and engineering students under government quota  in privately run professional colleges.

Chief Minister V Vaithilingam said that new rules were finalised at a cabinet meeting.

He said Rs 1.75 lakh would be sanctioned as assistance for students joining medical colleges if their parents annual income did not exceed Rs 50,000. If the income was more than this amount students would get Rs 1 lakh, he said.

Students should have obtained 60 per cent mark in the aggregate in the qualifying examination.

Engineering students who scored more than 60 per cent aggregate in qualifying examinations would get reimbursement of Rs 25,000 if their parents annual income was below Rs 50,000 while it would be Rs 15,000 if their parents income exceeded Rs 50,000.

Mr.Vaithilingam said that 250 students joining the private medical courses and 700 students joining engineering colleges under government quota would be benefitted by this decision of the government which would come into effect from the current academic year (2009-2010).

A sum of Rs 6 crores would be spent for this, he said. He said that the government would strictly enforce its decision that the private colleges earmarked fifty per cent of the total seats in the institutions for the government quota.