HP decides to hand over probe into scholarship disbursal scam to CBI

The scam involves the embezzlement of several crores of rupees and such a big swindle is not possible without the connivance of bank and government officials. EDUCATION DEPT OFFICIAL

SHIMLA :The Jai Ram Thakur-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has decided to hand the probe into the alleged multicrore scholarship disbursal scam, that took place during the previous Congress government, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Chief minister Thakur has directed the chief secretary and other officials of the education department to complete formalities for handing over the probe to the CBI.

The scam involves scholarship money disbursed to ‘ineligible’ and fake students.

”The state government has decided to go for a CBI inquiry in the scholarship embezzlement case,” chief minister Thakur announced late Tuesday evening .

The chief minister had convened the meeting to review the progress of the centrally funded schemes.

The meeting was convened days after the Centre reportedly sought the status of the state’s ongoing probe into the alleged irregularities in the disbursal of the scholarships to students.

A well-organised racket, allegedly embezzling scholarship funds worth crores of rupees through fake admissions in private educational institutions, came to light in May this year.

Students from tribal Lahaul and Spiti district complained that they had been deprived of scholarships in spite of merit and eligibility to get the scholarship.

Tribal development affairs minister Ram Lal Markandey and social justice minister Rajiv Sezal had also taken up the issue with the government.

Monthly scholarships are disbursed to tribal students and those falling under the scheduled caste category.

EDUCATION DEPT PROBE FINDINGS

The education department had also initiated an internal probe into the alleged scam to ascertain the veracity of complaints.

The queries made by the department detected that ₹226 crore were disbursed to the ineligible students by creating fake and fictitious bank accounts.

What raised hackles was private institutions in the state created fictitious bank accounts in and outside the state .

Of the total beneficiaries, 70% students were from the institutes outside the state.

It was also revealed that dozens of bank accounts in which scholarship money was deposited were in the same bank and also hundreds of students were shown having the same mobile number.

During the probe, the department detected that institutions had created fake bank accounts in Haryana, Chandigarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana .

“The scam allegedly runs in several crores and it is not possible without the connivance of the bank and government officials.” said an official of the department, who did not want to be quoted .

GENUINE CASES DEPRIVED

Inquiries revealed that majority of the scholarships had been disbursed to students studying in 18 institutions while the genuine one were deprived of them.

A case came to light where as many as 2,200 students were registered in one institution and majority of them claimed scholarships.