By Our Reporter
 SHILLONG: A day after RTI findings revealed that as many as 8,815 students belonging to the Scheduled Tribe category are yet to receive their post-matric adhoc scholarships for the year 2011-12, the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education (DHTE) informed that late submission of the Utilised Certificates (UC) by the respective schools and colleges has led to the delay.
RTI documents obtained by the Meghalaya People United Front (MPUF) on Wednesday had revealed that out of the 70,521 students who are entitled to receive the scholarship, around 61,706 had already availed the grant while the remaining 8,815 are yet to receive the same despite the availability of funds.
Speaking to The Shillong Times here on Thursday, Deputy Director of DHTE, Dr T Lyngdoh said that after the RTI was filed, three institutes– NEHU Tura, Kiang Nangbah and IGNOU (Kohima)– have come forward with their UCs and scholarships were subsequently released.
“More than 2000 students from these three institutes have received the scholarships which has brought down the number of students yet to receive the grant from 8,815 to almost 6000,” Lyngdoh said.
At present, as many as seven institutes are yet to submit the UCs without which, the Directorate cannot release the grants.
Lyngdoh said the delay also occurs due to the fact that many students do not have accounts in banks with core-banking facilities. “This is another long process as the list of such students will be returned back by the particular bank to the directorate and instead of crediting the money in the account of the student the bank will have to prepare an account pay-cheque which is time-consuming,” she added.
The Deputy Director also informed that soon after the first instalment of the total funds of Rs 13.59 crore was received on November 29, 2011, the Directorate started releasing the scholarship from the month of February . Brushing aside allegations that the delay is the tactics of the government to earn interest, the DHTE official said that the question of reaping the interest does not arise as the money is deposited in the current account and the holders do not get any interest on their balance.
