State to blame for delay in scholarship funds: Sampla

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 10

Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla today said Punjab minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot had needlessly blamed him for the delay in disbursal of SC post-matric scholarships.

Addressing the media, he said: “Dharamsot had so far released only Rs 258 crore to the SC students out of Rs 327 crore grant received from the Centre over the past five months. The state government has not been able to audit the accounts of scholarship for the past two years. They have not even pooled in state’s share of Rs 60 crore a year, which has now accumulated to Rs 310 crore.”

Sampla said Dharamsot had said in a recent meeting of the state and Central officials concerned that of 3,800 educational institutions, the accounts of only 2,000 institutions had been audited so far. “How can they blame me, if the Congress-led government has not even given us account details or the utilisation certificates of the released amount?” asked Sampla.