SHILLONG, Jan 12: Students can finally heave a sigh of relief as a sum of Rs 41.25 crore was released by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs as second instalment for disbursal of post-matric scholarships to students.
This was informed by Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma on Friday.
Stating that the second instalment of the scholarship will be disbursed to the students by next week, Sangma said that 37,000 out of 67,000 students have already received the first instalment of funds.
Replying to the criticism on the delay in releasing the scholarship, the Education minister said that the sanction order is dated January 12, therefore, there is no question of delay from the side of the state government.
It may be recalled that the North-Eastern Hill University Students’ Union (NEHUSU) and Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) had given the state government 10 days’ deadline to release the scholarships of the students.
The leaders of the two organisations had held a protest in-front of the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) office at Lower Lachumiere against government’s failures to release the scholarship.
Tura MDC and BJP vice president, Bernard Marak had also questioned the delay in the release of the umbrella scholarship due to students by the state government stating the move was causing inconveniences to students.
The scholarship is financial assistance to ST and SC students to help them complete their higher education.
A tribal with an annual family income not exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh from all sources is eligible to avail the scholarship.
