The government runs this scheme for backward and scheduled case students. The dole amount runs into several hundred crore rupees. The Social Welfare Department, which supervises the scheme, has ordered an inquiry, and thousands of institutions involved in the alleged scam are at the risk of losing their recognition.
More than 11 lakh students are "missing" from thousands of educational institutions throughout the state. Ridiculous as it may sound, the fact is that these students, who were getting scholarships or fees compensation from the state government till last year, have suddenly vanished, with the institutions they were supposed to have been studying in not claiming any recompense this year.
The government runs this scheme for backward and scheduled case students. The dole amount runs into several hundred crore rupees. The Social Welfare Department, which supervises the scheme, has ordered an inquiry, and thousands of institutions involved in the alleged scam are at the risk of losing their recognition.
"It is really astonishing that these institutions have failed to provide us any data about over 11 lakh students for whom they had been claiming scholarships and fees compensation till last year," says Sunil Kumar, Principal Secretary, social welfare department. "We are probing the matter and will not allow any bungling of government funds," he added.
It is indeed startling that as many as 12,000 institutions could not provide details about even a single "missing" student out of the hundreds for whom they had been siphoning off government funds every year. Sources say these institutions had been stumped this year as the department had tightened the monitoring of funds utilisation under this head. The release of funds to these institutions has been withheld this year pending an inquiry.
This year, in a bid to verify the bona fides of the students, the social welfare department had asked the institutions to upload their details on its website. Officials were startled when as many as 18, 87, 666 such students, who were on rolls last year, did not apply for claiming scholarship or fee refund. Even after the department threatened to initiate strict action against the schools / colleges, it got data on only 7,76,468 students, with 11,11,198 remaining untraceable.
A senior social department official said that despite several reminders, the institutions have not responded. They have now been given a final opportunity till January 31, after which the department will initiate strict action, he added.
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