Close
Menu

SAD to launch agitation in case SC scholarship dues not released by March 31

-- 27 March,2019

(Tinu says Cong govt diverted Rs 500 crore due to SC students, wants FM and Social Welfare minister to be held accountable)

Chandigarh, March 27 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today announced it would launch an agitation in case the Congress government did not release Rs 500 crore due to SC students on account of Post Matric scholarship scheme by March 31.

It also demanded action against finance minister Manpreet Badal and Welfare of SCs and BCs minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot for compromising the dignity of SC students who were being humiliated by both Government and Private College managements for failing to deposit the tuition fee which was the responsibility of the State government under the central scheme.

In a statement here, senior SAD leader Pawan Kumar Tinu said the Congress government had diverted Rs 270 crore received in February this year for the SC scholarship scheme from the central government. He said there was a backlog of around Rs 250 crore in distribution of this scholarship taking the total amount due to students to more than Rs 500 crore.

Mr Tinu said even as students were not being given their scholarship, the Congress government had allowed college managements to charge them admission fee which was not applicable to SC students earlier during SAD-BJP tenure. He said while enrolment of SC students had dropped from three lakh to two lakh during the last one year, it was likely to drop even further due these new measures. “It seems the Congress government does not want SC students to pursue higher studies and become eligible for the ghar ghar naukari scheme which is anyway on paper only”, the SAD leader added.

Giving further details, Mr Tinu said the management of Government Mohindra College, Patiala had put up a notice asking all SC students to deposit their scholarship fee or they would not be issued roll numbers. He said the same notices had been issued by many private colleges also. “The situation has become such that private college managements are not giving degrees to students whose scholarship fee has not been paid by the government”.

Mr Tinu said students were holding impromptu protests at many places and recently they had also blocked the Ludhiana – Delon road but it seemed the government was deaf to their pleas. “Now the SAD will take up this cause and take it to its logical conclusion. In case the Congress government does not release the scholarship by March 31 we will start an intensive agitation to ensure SC students are not denied their rights”.

The Akali leader pointed out that Dalits were also being discriminated against by the Congress regime. He said poor students did not get winter school uniforms this year. He said ‘Shagun’ scheme benefit was also being withheld even as dalits were not able to avail partial free power of 200 units per month under Congress rule and had been saddled with bills in thousands of rupees. “All this points towards an anti-dalit mindset”, Mr Tinu said adding the Dalit community would hold the Congress party to count in the forthcoming parliamentary elections”.

Facebook Comment
Project by : XtremeStudioz