The Bihar government has allegedly diverted funds of Rs 8,800 crore meant for providing scholarships to SC, ST students to build roads, claims a report by The Indian Express. The state government, on the other hand, denied SC, ST scholarships to many eligible students for six years citing a shortage of money.
According to the report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its 2018-19 findings noted that the diversion of funds took place despite NITI Aayog clearly stating that the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) fund is only meant for providing centrally-sponsored Post-Matric Scholarship (PMS) to SC/ST students whose annual family income is under Rs 2.5 lakh.
“The Committee observes from the findings of the CAG that funds earmarked for development for SCs and STs have been diverted for other purposes,” the 2018-19 CAG report said.
The Bihar government has frozen the SC, ST scholarship for three years since 2018-19, citing a “technical snag” in the national application portal. Additionally, the number of beneficiaries had anyway started to decline after 2016 – when the Bihar government’s SC/ST department imposed a fee cap under it. This had put a financial burden on students to avail of the scholarship.
In 2015-16, the number of beneficiaries of SC/ST scholarships in Bihar was 1,55,000. It decreased drastically in 2016-17 when only 37,372 students were provided with SC/ST scholarships. 70,886 SC/ST students received the scholarship in 2017-18, but the numbers decreased again in 2018-19 as this year there were only 39,792 beneficiaries.
On an average, Bihar sees around 5 lakh eligible students for the SC/ST scholarship, but the fee-capping in 2016 put enormous financial burden on students.
Even as there is little clarity about the SC/ST scholarship in Bihar, the state government has again invited applications under the scholarship scheme, informed Additional Chief Secretary, Education, Sanjay Kumar.
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( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a www.news18.com feed.)
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