Punjab's Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Minority Welfare Minister, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, recently urged the Centre to take immediate measures to release the state's share of ₹ 1,046.48 crore in connection with the post-matric scholarship scheme of scheduled caste students. He was speaking at a regional conference of Social Welfare ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh in Chandigarh.
The event was organised under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and the Empowerment Ministry. Dharamsot said that due to alleged non-release of funds for 2017-18 the admission process for students was being affected and urged for an immediate release of the amount considering the future of three lakh students. He also said that an amount of ₹ 18.43 crore for 2016-17, under pre-matric scholarship scheme for SC students, under which students of Class IX and X get scholarships, was pending from the Union government.
He added that proposals of ₹ 76.33 crore under Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatravas Yojna have been sent by the Punjab government to the Centre for the year 2016-17, which needed instant approval for the welfare of the SC category students. Under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna implemented in 2014-15 only 112 villages of Punjab have been included whereas there are 2,800 such villages which have SC population of more than 50 per cent, he said.
