Explain delay in Post Matric SC Scholarship scheme grant: Jakhar
Tuesday, 10/05/2016
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=156533&boxid=59193&uid=&dat=2016-05-10
Jalandhar : Former Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar on Monday cornered BJP Punjab president and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Vijay Sampla over the delay in issuing Rs 774.53 crore grant of Post Matric SC Scholarship scheme meant for the Dalit students in Punjab.
Jakhar asked Sampla to explain that why despite being ‘Union Minister of State of the concerned department and a prominent ‘Dalit leader’, he failed to get the grant for the educational welfare of the Scheduled Castes (SC) students.
The CLP leader said that centre government’s share of Rs 774.53 crore in the scholarship grant was yet to be released. “Out of this grant, Rs 527.68 crore was of the last fiscal year, while Rs 245.08 crore of the current year. The state and the Central governments were sitting over the backlog while the students were suffering,” he said.
Addressing a press conference, Jakhar said that Sampla holds the charge of Punjab BJP chief and was being projected as a prominent Dalit leader of the saffron party but why was the Post Matric SC Scholarship scheme grant delayed. “Last year on July 24, the Centre had objected on the utility of funds provided to the Punjab government. The state government failed to provide the utilitisation certificate, leading to unwarranted delay,” he said.
The senior Congress leader also said, “The letter written by the Centre to the Punjab government stated that ‘Utilisation certificate furnished by the state government is not correct’, which indicated that how the funds meant for the Dalit students were misused by the Punjab government.”
