By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Even after a year since the State government received the required funds for the post-matric adhoc scholarship for students belonging to the Scheduled Tribe, as many as 8,815 students have not received the scholarship till date.
The documents received through an RTI revealed that the State government last year received over Rs 13 crore 59 lakh from the Centre in installments of which the first one was received on November 29, 2011, the second one on December 20, 2011 and the third one on March 31, 2012.
The RTI filed by the Meghalaya People United Front (MPUF) with the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education further revealed that out of the 70,521 students, who are entitled to receive the grant, around 61,706 had already received the scholarship while the other 8,815 are yet to get the same.
Stating that there are 163 colleges in the State, MPUF president D Wanmi Laloo said “We have been receiving complaints from students in this regard and we have decided to file the RTI on behalf of all the college students of the State.”
Questioning the government over the delay in disbursing the scholarship grant to the entitled students despite the availability of funds, Laloo asserted “It seems that there is a diversion of the scholarship fund and the government is playing a tactic to earn a huge rate of interest.”
Laloo also maintained that as per the direction of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the disbursement of the scholarships to the students should have been cleared by February this year.
The MPUF sought a clarification on the delay. Responding to it, the directorate replied that the non-availability of core-banking facilities in some banks was the prime reason behind the delay.
“The reply given by the government is not satisfactory as the only banks which do not have the core-banking facility include-Meghalaya Apex Cooperative Bank, Meghalaya Rural Bank and Meghalaya Urban Bank and many students have their accounts in nationalised banks,” MPUF general secretary Aimonbha Syad said.
“There are students who have accounts in banks offering core banking facilities, however, they are yet to receive the money and the claims made by the government stands unclear and baseless,” Syad asserted.
The MPUF has stated that it will write to the Education department on this matter and failing a respond to their demands within 2-3 months, they would go a step further and shoot off a complaint letter to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
