New Delhi, Nov 4 Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is examining a letter sent by Congress leader and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson K C Venugopal seeking action against chief secretaries of six states for not appearing before the panel despite being summoned.
The letter was sent by Venugopal to the speaker on October 22 after chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh remained absent at a hearing of the PAC on irregularities in scholarship schemes for students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs).
“The speaker is examining the letter of the PAC chairman. If the speaker finds it appropriate, after going through the rules, a privilege notice may be issued to the six chief secretaries,” a source privy to the matter said.
In his letter, the Congress leader conveyed that the PAC, which was examining pre-matric and post-matric scholarship programmes for students belonging to the SC category, had found delays in onboarding states on the national scholarship portal, gaps in coordination between the Centre and states, and problems in disbursement of funds during a study visit to Jaipur in September.
Communications went to the six states on October 8 and 9, asking the chief secretaries and other concerned officials to appear before the PAC in connection with the irregularities.
However, none of the six chief secretaries turned up at the meeting, though exemptions were not granted, he noted.
All members of the PAC took note of the matter and the PAC held that the absence amounts to a breach of privilege, Venugopal said in the letter, and urged the speaker to take appropriate action for their absence.
(PTI News)
