State MPS slam Centre for not releasing funds for SC students
GURDASPUR: Members of Parliament (MPS) of Punjab, under the leadership of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar, raised questions against the Union government for not releasing a grant of ₹1615.79 crore to the state, under the post-matric scholarship scheme, for SC students.
Jakhar said central government is unresponsive to the welfare of the SCS. He was accompanied by MPS Santokh Chaudhary, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
Divulging details of the pendency of post-matric scholarship grant, Jakhar said that the state government is waiting for arrears of ₹328.72 crore for 2015-16, ₹719.52 crore for 2016-17 and ₹567.55 crore for 2017-18, from the Centre.
He further added that in the current fiscal, the Centre had released only ₹115.73 crore to the state, under the scheme, and after its dispersal, the state had submitted a utilisation certificate to the Centre.
“Despite that, the Modi government is not releasing the next instalment. It reflects the insensitivity of NDA government towards the SC community in Punjab,” said Jakhar.
“In Punjab, 32% population belongs to the SC community, and the education of over 9.14 lakh SC students is getting affected due to the nonavailability of the scholarship money,” he said.