Govt gets 10-day deadline to release students’ scholarship

Shillong, Jan 3: The North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) served a 10-day deadline to the state government on Wednesday demanding the release of scholarship to the students.
The leaders of the two organisations staged a protest in front of the office of MBoSE at Lower Lachumiere against the government’s failure to release the scholarship.
HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem told reporters they learnt the scholarship has not been released to first-time applicants and 50 per cent of renewing students.
He recalled that the Education department earlier released the scholarship overnight after the HYC had threatened to take out a rally.
Stating that the scholarship is normally released in October, Synrem said Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma has, in a statement to the press on November 21 last year, stated the scholarship would be released in two to three weeks’ time.
“But till now, it hasn’t been released,” the HYC president lamented.
He suggested that the state government can utilise the contingency funds to release the scholarship and replenish the same once funds are received from the Centre.
Synrem said if the government can allocate Rs 1 crore to Sikkim for flood relief and provide assistance to different organisations for festivals, why it cannot use the contingency funds to release the scholarship.
Mentioning Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s aspiration about transforming Meghalaya into a $10 billion economy, Synrem questioned the priorities of the government stating that there is a need to address educational challenges over mere economic growth. “What do we do with the infrastructures provided to the state if we cannot build our human resources and students are pressured to leave their education halfway? My question is who will be benefiting from all these infrastructures and development if our own people and own students cannot,” Synrem said.
NEHUSU general secretary Banpynbiang Riang said they have decided to give ten days’ time to the government to release the scholarship. He said they will agitate again if there is no response from the government within this time.