Vigilance books 12 more for scholarship bungling

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 23

In another FIR in post-matric scholarship scam, the State Vigilance Bureau has booked 12 persons for alleged embezzlement of Rs 17.16 crore in Bhiwani, Sirsa, Hisar, Fatehabad and Charkhi Dadri districts.

The quantum of scam so far has reached over Rs 40 crore. The FIR was registered at the Hisar police station of the bureau on December 18. In one instance, 493 SC students of Fatehabad villages were lured in 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 by promising them free diplomas of BLDA and MPHW courses.

They were shown to be admitted in Venkateshwara University in Uttar Pradesh, Aadesh University in Bathinda, Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar, Satya Sai University in Madhya Pradesh, Akal University in Talwandi Sabo, RIMT University in Mandi Gobindgarh, Sant Baba Bhag University in Jalandhar, Desh Bhagat University in Mandi Gobindgarh, Sunrise University in Rajasthan, Khalsa College in Amritsar, Punjab GNA University in Phagwara, City University In Ludhiana and Monard University in Uttar Pradesh.

The institutes confirmed to the bureau that neither were these courses offered nor the students admitted. An amount of Rs 5.48 crore was alleged to be embezzled in form of scholarship to SC students. The accused had taken all credentials from students and alleged to have pocketed the money.

The accused include Hisar residents Tejpal and Arvind Sangwan, Bhiwani residents Raj Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Sunil Kumar and seven government officials, including two former Deputy Directors of the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes.

In another instance in Fatehabad, names and bank accounts of 1,579 students did not match the response file from the bank through which scholarship amount was released. In this case, the amount was Rs7.17 crore from 2015-18.

In Bhiwani, Rs 3.34 crore was alleged to be have been embezzled in the name of 807 students from 2015-18. Similar embezzlement and modus operandi were seen in Sirsa, Charkhi Dadri and Hisar.

The government has given prosecution sanction against seven officials of the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes so far — Deputy Director Anil Kumar, now suspended; former Deputy Director Rajendar Singh Sangwan, now retired; Hisar’s former District Welfare Officer Balwan Singh, now retired; Bhiwani’s former District Welfare Officer Vinod Kumar Chawla, presently posted in Panchkula; Bhiwani’s former District Welfare Officer Suresh Kumar, presently posted in Narnaul; assistant Bilendar Singh, presently suspended; and former accountant-cum-clerk in District Welfare Office of Sonepat Surinder Kumar, presently suspended.