Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered the release of pending amount under the Ashirwad scheme, besides seeking a detailed report on the audit of private colleges for the release of post-matric scholarship for SC and ST students.
At the same time, the Chief Minister also directed the Finance Department to forthwith clear all pending cases for the months of April till September 2017.
The directions were issued during the review meeting of the government’s welfare schemes, chaired by the Chief Minister and attended by senior officials of the finance and social welfare departments.
Taking a serious view of the delay in disbursement of payments under various schemes, Capt Amarinder ordered immediate release of the pending amount under the Ashirwad scheme at Rs 15,000 per girl for the April-June 2017 period, to be followed by payment for July-September at the enhanced amount of Rs 21,000, as announced by the government.
The total amount which will be immediately cleared is Rs 44 crore, the spokesperson said.
The meeting also discussed the post-matric scholarship scheme for SC and ST students and reviewed the progress of the audit being done of the 100 percent centrally-sponsored scheme amid reports that many private colleges were availing benefits under the scheme against fake enrolment of students.
Directing that the audit, which was initiated against private colleges for payments made to them over the last five years, be completed in two weeks, Capt Amarinder asked the Department to take punitive action against the colleges found guilty of bogus enrolment.
Capt Amarinder ordered the release of money due towards government colleges while asked the Chief Secretary to examine all cases relating to for a detailed report before releasing money to the private colleges. Rs 115 crore was due to be released by the state government under the scheme.
Of the 900-plus colleges being audited, bunglings have been uncovered so far in 250 colleges, and it is estimated that Rs 500 crore of pilferage could have happened under the scheme.