Demand for CBI inquiry in the Punjab Post-Matric Scholarship scam – Kainth
Stop playing politics over future of SC/BC/Minority students – NSCA
CM should discuss the issue in the Vidhan Sabha session – Kainth
Chandigarh, 27 August (wishavwarta):- According to the latest reports, a scam in excess of Rs 63.91 crore has been unearthed in relation to the post-matric scholarship scheme in Punjab by the State Cabinet Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and the Deputy Director Parminder Singh Gill of the concerned department related to the Scheme. The objective of the Post-matric scholarship scheme is to provide financial assistance to the Scheduled Caste, Other Backward Classes and Minority students studying at post matriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education. In July, the Chief Minister Capt. Amrinder Singh announced that the Post matric scholarship scheme shall continue but there has been no answerability towards the multi-crore scam that has been done under the garb of welfare by ministers and bureaucrats of his own government. A similar scam was done in Himachal Pradesh where CBI arrested three persons in connection with Rs 250-crore scandal that started back in 2012 when the money for the students under 36 schemes was not paid and most of the amount was given to private institutions. In 2019, a scam was unearthed in Haryana and culprits were put behind bars.
As per the report, the money which was to be distributed to genuine institutes under the scheme was diverted to privately funded institutions allegedly owned by politicians or having stake in such institutes. Those private institutes were found to be granted Rs 16.91 crores in an audit were originally slated to receive only Rs 8 crores. There is no clarity on when is the new audit going to be conducted as promised by the CM. In total there is no record of around Rs 39 crores and Rs 24.91 crores were found to be diverted to private institutions. All this corruption amounts to Rs. 63.91 crores.
Speaking on the issue, Paramjit Singh Kainth, President of the National Scheduled Castes Alliance gave his scathing remarks, “This scholarship scam has been going on for a while now and while we’ve been crusading for a genuine inquiry to be initiated into the issue, we are now getting reports that the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in the State Government,Sadhu Singh Dharamsot who is responsible for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes and someone who adamantly claimed to not spare those involved in the post-matric scholarship scam is himself under the scanner for being a culprit. The deputy director, Paraminder Singh Gill along with former Director of the Department, Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal who is now the MLA from Phagwara worked alongside the Minister to divert this money to private institutions as well some institutions which have no record at all. This nexus of Political-Bureaucratic corruption is alarming for the Scheduled Castes community and for the State of Punjab in general.”
He said, “While all these funds were diverted and misappropriated during 2017-2019 and these claims of scam are further reinforced by the Report No. 12 of CAG – Performance Audit on Post Matric Scholarships to the Students belonging to Scheduled Castes, the audit findings mentioned in the report included diversion of scholarship funds, denial/short reimbursement of scholarship, excess payment of scholarship and scholarship paid to ineligible students. The Chief Minister should not shy away from his responsibility to be accountable for the deeds of his ministers. In lieu of political advantage or personal benefit, these individuals have played with the future of the minorities as well as SC&BC students. They should not be spared at any cost. There has been no meeting on this issue in the Cabinet meetings as was promised by the CM Capt. Amrinder Singh. This is a clear breach of trust by the Government.”
Mr. Kainth finally demanded that, “the role of the Minister in this scam should be investigated and a CBI inquiry as other states in the region have conducted should be initiated if the CM and his government have nothing to hide. If found guilty, the concerned public officials should be prosecuted accordingly. If Capt. Amrinder Singh is honest and wants the trust of the people, he should call a meeting on the issue tomorrow as well as discuss it in the session of the Vidhan Sabha scheduled to start on 28th August.
We also urge the people whose futures are dependent on the Scheme and its proceeds to show their support in this issue by raising black flags on top of their homes and staying indoors to show their protest safely during the pandemic of Coronavirus. A digital campaign in this regard is being initiated in the coming days.”