Ranchi, Dec. 28: The Jharkhand tribal welfare department wants to make life easier for poor but meritorious students preparing for the state civil services or selection tests of engineering or medical colleges: it will organise special coaching and also pay for it.

With Rs 2 crore earmarked for the project to begin next year, the government has decided to start with 50 such students to be identified on merit basis and then see that they are properly trained for competitive exams.

“We will select a couple of institutions which will be asked to select candidates and provide them coaching. If such institutions are outside the state, they would have to provide quality accommodation with meals,” a department official said.

The department will float tenders at the beginning of the new financial year inviting bids from reputed coaching centres from as far as New Delhi and Kota.

So far, the tribal welfare department, which is working to improve the plight of indigenous people, has restricted itself to providing vocational training in, say, aviation, hotel management and other such courses. And most of those who took these courses have got jobs.

This will be the first time the department has chalked out a plan to ensure that tribal students get proper grooming for competitive examinations, too.

“For appearing in any competitive examination, proper guidance is required. Our effort is to see to it that good tribal students are groomed before they appear for such exams,” said tribal welfare commissioner K.K. Soan.

The tribal welfare department, which has sought financial assistance from the state government to launch the scheme, will be monitoring the performance of selected coaching institutes at regular intervals to ensure the selected students benefit from the training.

The government is expected to sanction the fund next year at the time of preparing the state budget.