ROADWAYS YET TO GET ₹1 CR FOR STUDENT TRIPS TO SCIENCE CITY

JALANDHAR:The Punjab Roadways and the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) are yet to get ₹1.10 crore from the state education department for taking students on educational trips to Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, under the Mukh Mantri Vigyan Yatra scheme.

While the payment of ₹88 lakh is pending to the PRTC, the department owes ₹25 lakh to the Punjab Roadways for providing educational trips from August 2017 to January 31 this year.

Education department officials said the Congress government after coming to power last year had slashed the transportation budget under the scheme from ₹5 crore to ₹1 crore for the 2017-18 session.

The department paid ₹3 crore from the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Sikhsha Abhiyan (RMSA) funds for tickets purchased for the visiting the science city.

PRTC managing director (MD) Manjit Singh Narang said, “We have sent the ₹88 lakh bill to the education department. We have taken up the matter with the authorities concerned.” The Mukh Mantri Vigyan Yatra scheme was launched by the previous SAD-BJP government during the 2016-17 session to apprise students of various scientific developments.

NOTIFICATION DELAY, DERA STIR HIT TRIPS

Officials said against the education department’s target of 2.5 lakh students visiting the science city during the academic year, only 1.5 lakh students turned up.

Many schools did not organise visits due to the the Dera Sacha Sauda unrest in the wake of sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction and arrest, they said. Also, the science city trips were supposed to be organised from May onwards but the Congress government issued a notification to the education department for the same later, delaying the trips by two months.

Sources said science city and education department officials had met secretary (school education) Krishan Kumar in January who sent the file to the revenue department for payment of pending bills. The revenue department has not paid the bills so far. Kumar could not be reached for comments.