Crucial noting in Rs 250-cr Himachal scam ‘ignored’

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 15

A crucial file-noting by an official of the state Directorate of Higher Education recommending physical verification of students of private institutes to weed out bogus applicants was allegedly ignored by the higher-ups in the Rs 250-crore scholarship scam, it has been learnt.

The official, one among those chargesheeted by the CBI in the scam, made the noting in 2015 in view of the large number of applications that were received for the scholarships.

Even after complaints of non-receipt of scholarships, the authorities didn’t stop release of funds, but chose writing to the institutes that they would be held accountable for financial irregularities, if any.

In one instance, a Kala Amb institute was let off with small penalty after one of its students complained that he was not receiving scholarship. No effort was made to plug the gaps, said sources. 

Software tricked

• Software used for scholarship disbursal couldn’t detect doubling of mobile and Aadhaar numbers
• The man operating it, however, was allegedly aware of the loopholes
• Transferred several times, but he managed to get orders cancelled, indicating complicity of higher-ups