New Delhi, Oct 15 Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday decided to urge the Lok Sabha Speaker to move a privilege motion against certain state chief secretaries who did not appear before the panel to explain delays in disbursement of scholarships to Scheduled Caste students.
The chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and Bihar were to appear before the panel to explain the delay in disbursement of pre-matric and post-matric scholarships to SC students for many years. However, none of them did.
PAC chairman K C Venugopal said the committee’s audit found students waiting up to 48 months for pre-matric dues and up to 89 months for post-matric dues, with some receiving nothing at all.
“Income and caste eligibility went unverified, and payments reached non-SC beneficiaries while eligible children waited,” Venugopal said on X, explaining the summons to six “poor-performing” states’ top bureaucrats.
“The Committee has taken serious note of this as contempt and will bring it to the notice of the Hon’ble Speaker for action under the privilege rules,” he said.
“For a Dalit child, a scholarship decides whether the classroom stays within reach. The PAC treats the delivery of social justice as a constitutional obligation, and it will hold every State and Ministry accountable until every eligible student receives what is due to them,” Venugopal added.
Later, talking to reporters, Venugopal said that between 2017 and 2022, the audit found more than four years’ delay in pre-matric and around seven years’ delay in post-matric scholarships. “This was shocking for all of us,” he said.
Venugopal alleged that there was no coordination between the central and the state governments, nor did the states give top priority to these things.
“They have not been given Action Taken Reports even after three months. This is a serious issue,” he said.
The chairman said the committee has taken a “serious note” of the chief secretaries’ no-show and unanimously decided to give a privilege motion to the Speaker against them.
The PAC chairman said the panel is going to take up the issue in a big way.
“The officers cannot delay this much for any scheme,” he said.
“Therefore, PAC will take it up at a bigger level and we are going to present the report in the Parliament. The income limits for the scholarships should also be increased. We discussed this thoroughly with Social Justice Secretary in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,” Venugopal told reporters. PTI SKC 1.0.
(PTI News)
