PATNA: The Centre has granted prosecution sanction against three retired bureaucrats in connection with the ₹5.5 crore Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) post-matriculation scholarship scam detected seven years ago in Bihar, people aware of the matter said.
In November 2016, a case was registered against K P Ramaia, SM Raju, Ramashish Paswan, and 13 others on the state government’s directive for alleged irregularities in the disbursement of the scholarship to SC and ST students pursuing technical education outside Bihar. The case is pending before a special vigilance court.
Ramaiah headed the Mahadalit Commission for the welfare of the poorest of poor Dalit castes. After voluntary retirement, Ramaiah unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Sasaram as a Janata Dal (United) nominee in 2014.
The charge sheet in the case has been filed against 10 accused and the investigation is going on against bureaucrat Ravi Manubhai Parmar.