Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday announced an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the post-matric scholarship scheme that had surfaced during the previous Congress regime.
“My government is committed to ensure that truth comes out in this scheme so that embezzlers are punished as per the law,” said the chief minister (CM).
Assuring the citizens that the inquiry will be a “threadbare analysis” to ascertain lapses and embezzlement of the public money under the post-matric scholarship scheme, the CM said that it will help “nail the guilty who worked against students of weaker and underprivileged sections”.
The alleged multicrore post-matric scholarship scam had surfaced in 2020, following a report by the then additional chief secretary, discovering misappropriation of ₹55.71 crore. The report had also questioned the role of the then social justice minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot in allegedly shielding those involved in the scam.
The then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had directed the chief secretary to conduct a thorough probe. However, the chief secretary’s report, based on the findings of a three-member panel of IAS officers, had exonerated Dharamsot.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was then in the opposition, had held statewide protests over the issue last year while demanding registration of a case against Dharamsot. Last month, Dharamsot, who also held the portfolio of forest minister in the previous government, was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case in connection with felling of trees. At present, he is in judicial remand.
{{/usCountry}}The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was then in the opposition, had held statewide protests over the issue last year while demanding registration of a case against Dharamsot. Last month, Dharamsot, who also held the portfolio of forest minister in the previous government, was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case in connection with felling of trees. At present, he is in judicial remand.
{{/usCountry}}Mann, who first made the announcement of the inquiry on Twitter, wrote: “I have received files pertaining to the release of the scholarship amount during the previous government. Irregularities have been found in releasing funds to private institutions… orders have been issued for a probe.”
The CM said the embezzlement of funds under the scheme has impacted the future of a large number of Scheduled Caste (SC) students by depriving them of quality higher education. He criticised successive Akali and Congress governments for “patronising politicians and bureaucrats involved in this sinister move”. “The guilty of these irregularities will be made answerable for the loot of every single penny from the state exchequer,” he said in a statement issued by the chief minister’s office.
(with agency inputs)