Face2News/Chandigarh
Paramjit Singh Kainth, State Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party SC Morcha Punjab, welcomed the Punjab Vigilance Bureau’s decision to finally register an FIR in the Post-Matric SC Scholarship Scam case and said this proves that for years the rights and future of Dalit students were compromised by the ruling establishment and administration.
BJP leader Kainth said the objective of the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme was to provide educational opportunities to economically weaker Scheduled Caste students. Corruption in such a welfare scheme is not merely a financial scam, but a direct attack on social justice and constitutional equality. In this regard, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes should immediately take cognizance of the matter. He alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government led by Bhagwant Singh Mann has appointed as the state’s Chief Secretary a person who allegedly suppressed the Post-Matric Scholarship Scam, exposing the collusion, corruption and mindset of AAP leaders and revealing their anti-Dalit face.
He said it is deeply concerning that action was taken only after strict observations by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Serious allegations have surfaced in this 2016-17 case, including illegal payments worth crores of rupees, fake audit reports, double payments, tampering with government files and large-scale financial irregularities. He stated that the National Scheduled Caste Alliance played an important role in exposing this serious financial fraud and corruption. To ensure the reimplementation of the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, continuous protests and demonstrations were held for one month in 2020 at Rally Ground, Sector 25, Chandigarh, against the then Congress-led Punjab government. As a result, the scheme was successfully implemented again in Punjab.
Raising the voice for Scheduled Caste interests, Paramjit Singh Kainth said the biggest question is: who destroyed the future of poor SC students for whom this scholarship was meant? He said action against only a few officials is not enough. The role of influential persons, educational institutions and those who provided political protection behind this scam must also be investigated through a fair, transparent and time-bound inquiry.
He said the looting of the rights of Dalit students cannot be tolerated under any circumstances and every accused linked to this scam will have to answer before the law. “Cheating in education is cheating social justice.”
Referring to the High Court’s observations, Kainth said the court strongly reprimanded the Punjab government for not registering an FIR for five years. The court clarified that the government had wrongly interpreted interim orders and used them as a shield against criminal proceedings, whereas the orders were limited only to recovery proceedings.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu accepted the unconditional apology submitted by Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, but at the same time legally rejected the government’s argument. The court observed that if information regarding a cognizable offence was available in 2020 itself, then the FIR should have been registered at that very time. The Bench also referred to the Supreme Court judgment in “Lalita Kumari vs Government of Uttar Pradesh.”
Kainth said this alleged scam involving crores of rupees has raised serious questions not only about financial irregularities but also about social justice, administrative accountability and transparency in government welfare schemes. He said the misuse of funds reserved for SC students has exposed the failure of Punjab’s administrative system.
The BJP leader demanded that the Bhagwant Mann government allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate the scam and ensure strict punishment for all those involved. He also demanded safeguards to ensure that future scholarships meant for students reach eligible beneficiaries directly without corruption or political interference.
Punjab
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