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Punjab Vigilance to probe post-matric scholarship scam, says minister
The vigilance bureau will carry out further probe in the ₹55 crore scam in the post-matric scholarship scheme that surfaced during the previous Congress government in the state, social justice and empowerment minister Baljit Kaur said on Friday.
The vigilance bureau will carry out further probe in the ₹55 crore scam in the post-matric scholarship scheme that surfaced during the previous Congress government in the state, social justice and empowerment minister Baljit Kaur said on Friday. Addressing a press conference jointly with finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema here, Kaur said the state government has sacked six officials in connection with the scam in which ₹39 crore were released to “ghost institutes” and another ₹16 crore given as excess payment to colleges from which money was to be recovered. There was no trace of the funds disbursed to “ghost institutes” by the officials in connivance, she said.
Asked about former minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot whose name had figured in the scholarship scam, the minister said the VB would carry out a further probe. “Whosoever is found involved will not be spared,” she said. The minister said the state government has dismissed four officials of the department of social justice, empowerment and minorities and two from the finance department for their alleged role in irregularities in the disbursal of funds under the scheme. They include deputy director Parminder Singh Gill, deputy controller Charanjit Singh, section officer Mukesh Bhatia, Superintendent Rajinder Chopra and senior assistants Rakesh Arora and Baldev Singh.
Cheema said that more than 2.50 lakh Scheduled Caste students have applied for scholarships under the scheme and the portal will remain open till March 31 as against 2020-21 when their number dropped to 1.95 lakh. The scam had hit the headlines during the Congress government after a senior official submitted a report questioning the role of Dharamsot, the then social justice and empowerment minister, in allegedly shielding the officials suspected to be involved in irregularities.
