Foreign education scholarship: Minister’s daughter says no; dept secy says son won’t withdraw application

Shruti Rajkumar Badole conveyed her wish to withdraw her application in an email to the social justice and special assistance department on Thursday.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Minister Rajkumar Badole’s daughter on Thursday withdrew her application for the special state government scholarship to study abroad following allegations of conflict of interest over the inclusion of her name in the list of beneficiaries.

Rajkumar Badole is the minister for social justice, which administers the scholarship, and hence the decision to award a scholarship to his daughter sparked a controversy. (File)

Shruti Rajkumar Badole conveyed her wish to withdraw her application in an email to the social justice and special assistance department on Thursday.

Rajkumar Badole is the minister for social justice, which administers the scholarship, and hence the decision to award a scholarship to his daughter sparked a controversy.

Besides Badole’s daughter, the department secretary, Dinesh Waghmare’s son also won the state government’s scholarship, giving rise to more questions.

The scholarship, started in 2003, is granted to a maximum of 50 students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Dalit families who have secured admission in any of the top 300 universities across the globe for post-graduate or PhD education.

Waghmare said, “I received Shruti Badole’s email this morning saying she wants to withdraw her application following the controversy.”

Waghmare’s son, Antariksh, is being awarded the scholarship to study Masters in Science in Information System at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Waghmare added, “My son will not withdraw his application and will go ahead with the scholarship for which he is eligible.”

The social justice department has clarified that both Shruti and Antariksh are eligible for the scholarship as per existing norms and the minister as well as the secretary stayed away from the selection process this year knowing their children were applicants.