Shillong, August 07: The Meghalaya People’s United Front (MPUF) today has said that the government is not taking its responsibility seriously concerning the students who are the future of the state and the country as a whole as there are many students who do not receive their scholarship.
In a press conference held today at the Shillong Press Club, MPUF General Secretary Aimonbha Syad said that through the Right to Information (RTI) from the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education (DHTE) it is revealed that the central government has allotted Rupees 13.59 crore to 70,521 student studying in the 163 colleges for the year 2011-12, out of which only 61, 706 students received their scholarship while 8815 students are still awaiting for the same.
“It is surprising that our government despite having been granted such a huge amount from the central government for college scholarship is not releasing the fund appropriately,” Syad said, adding that those who have State Bank of India (SBI) account can easily avail of the scholarship while those having their account with Meghalaya Rural Bank and Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank are deprived of the same.
MPUF President Diwanmi Laloo said the state government is irresponsible and greedy at the same time because all the money meant for college scholarship is being stashed in the bank earning handsome interest.
“The government is earning crores of Rupees per year by doing this and leaving the youth of the state at the mercy of their own fate,” Laloo said.
Furthermore, MPUF president claims that this can be verified by the fact that the students who merit scholarship are awarded the same only after the completion of their studies while in the RTI it is clearly mentioned that it should be done at the end of each year, “and this shows how corrupt our government is through its education department.”(SP News)
