Post-Matric Scholarship: Educational institutes appeal to state govt to release central share

Addressing a press conference in Jalandhar, members of the Confederation of Punjab Unaided Institutions said the state government had not released ₹1853 crore under the scheme for last three academic years even they had received the share from the Centre

Educational institutes from Punjab on Wednesday appealed to the state government to release central share to the tune of ₹309 crore of the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme to arrange for beds and other facilities for Covid-19 patients on their premises that are being used as quarantine centres.

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Addressing a press conference in Jalandhar, members of the Confederation of Punjab Unaided Institutions said the state government had not released ₹1853 crore under the scheme for last three academic years even they had received the share from the Centre.

“We have requested the chief secretary to release at least ₹309 crore to that the Centre released for this year. The state government has not issued funds for the 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20,” said confederation chairman Ashwani Sekhri.

He said neighbouring Haryana and Himachal Pradesh had paid the dues to their institution on time.

The members said in the 2015-16 academic session, the colleges and universities, both public and private, received funds under the scheme. Now, the scholarship has turned into a financial burden for these institutions due to the pendency that was ₹415 crore in 2016-17, ₹538 in 2017-18, ₹437 crore in 2018-19 and ₹450 crore in 2019-20.

In Punjab, over 2.5 lakh students belonging to the scheduled castes (SC) are the direct beneficiaries of the scheme. The scholarship (mainly as academic fee waiver) is paid to the students whose parents and guardians’ annual income from all sources does not exceed ₹2.5 lakh.