Scheduled Caste students suffering due to Punjab Govt apathy: Akali Dal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 11

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today alleged that the Scheduled Caste students in the state were suffering due to the apathy of the previous Congress and the present AAP government. The party demanded immediate release of the state’s share of Rs 250 crore under the SC Post Matric Scholarship Scheme to ensure the release of the central share of Rs 930 crore.

Senior Akali leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said, “SC students should not be made to suffer due to the criminal negligence displayed by both the previous Congress and present AAP government.” He said the previous Congress government refused to release its share under the scheme from 2017 to 2020 during the course of which the scheme was discontinued, leading to denial of scholarship to around three lakh SC students. The present AAP government had also not released state’s share of Rs 250 crore, he added.

He said, “The enrolment of SC students in educational institutions in the state has gone down drastically from 3.17 lakh during the tenure of the SAD government in 2016-17 to 2.14 lakh in 2023-24.”