Punjab: Punjab government did not pay scholarship, two lakh Dalit students left college

POSTED ON JULY 21, 2022

National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman Vijay Sampla said the commission has sought an explanation from the state government as to why the money has not been paid to the colleges despite the Centre’s payment of dues.

Nearly 2 lakh Dalit students in Punjab dropped out of their college studies because the Punjab government did not pay their scholarships of Rs 2,000 crore to the colleges. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes said on Wednesday that the state government has been asked to reply in 7 days in this regard.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman Vijay Sampla said the commission has sought an explanation from the state government as to why the money has not been paid to the colleges despite the Centre’s payment of dues. He said that we have taken suo motu cognizance in the matter. There are many complaints from SC students that they are not being allowed in colleges as the government has not paid their fees. He said that in 2017 there were around three lakh SC students who benefited from the scheme and in 2020 the number has come down to 1-1.25 lakh. When we asked the state government, they said that these children have dropped out.

‘No dues to the Centre’

According to Vijay Sampla, in the meeting, the officials told that the arrears of scholarship has not been paid by the Center to the state. After this, the data released by the Center revealed that there was no arrears, while the state government did not pay Rs 2000 crore to the colleges. Now the question arises that where did the scholarship money go.

I have received files related to release of scholarship amount during previous govt. Irregularities have been found in the release of funds to private institutions. An inquiry order has been issued in this matter. Every penny will be accounted for. – Bhagwant Mann, Chief Minister, Punjab

Courtesy : Amar Ujala

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