New Delhi: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has said that about two lakh students belonging to this category have dropped out of college due to non-payment of about Rs.2,000 crore by the Punjab Government under the scholarship scheme.
The commission said that these dues were pending with the Punjab government.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had last week ordered an inquiry into irregularities in the post-matric scholarship scheme. These irregularities came to light during the previous Congress government. Commission chairperson Vijay Sampla told media that the commission has sought an explanation from the state in the matter as to why the payment was not made to the colleges despite payment from the Centre.
He said that three lakh SC students had benefited from the scheme in 2017. In 2020, this number came down to around 1 lakh. He said that when the state government was asked he said that these children have dropped out of college. Sampla said the commission had taken cognizance of the matter.