For the last two semesters, financially weaker students in Doon University have not benefited under Pandit Mahanand Dangwal scholarship which was instituted in the academic year 2011-12 to support poor and meritorious students, alleged Doon University Chhatra Adhikaar Sangharsh Samiti (DUCASS) interim vice-president Barkha Mathur on Tuesday.
However, University deputy registrar MS Mandrawal said that eligible students were not selected for the scholarship as members nominated by Dangwal could not attend the screening committee meeting conducted by the University. “We are in touch with appointed members Rajesh Saklani, Beena Dangwal and Virendra Dangwal and hope to soon provide scholarship to the eligible candidates,” he added.
Mathur said that then Vice-Chancellor Prof Girijesh Pant who was extremely concerned about the financial insecurity of poor students worked towards speedy processing of the scholarship and the first batch of five students were awarded a scholarship of `5000 per month.
“Unfortunately, all the efforts of Prof Pant were defeated as rampant nepotism in the administration and official apathy towards the causes of the students delayed the process and the students kept on waiting for the award of the scholarship,” she alleged.
She said that in the entire year since Professor Girijesh Pant left, not a single student was awarded scholarship although the university authorities have mentioned the scheme every time in their prospectus. “When the hopeful students ask about their application, the administration conveniently misleads them by saying that the screening committee could not discuss the issue so far. This year also, there is mention of the scholarship in the admission prospectus,” she added.
According to her, the fees at Doon University is exorbitantly high and an average student pursuing an undergraduate course in Economics and residing in the hostel pays around `40,000 in the first semester of the course. Students even pay for the mess bill during vacations when the mess is not in function. This amounts to around `8000 per month if one assumes a five month active semester excluding the vacations. A support of `5000 per month through PMDS initiated by the then Vice Chancellor Prof Girijesh Pant was a big relief for poor and meritorious students in the campus.
DUCASS urges that students who have applied for the scholarship should be paid in retrospect to the deserving students and the administration should fulfill its promises made in the admission prospectus, she added. It should be mentioned here that during the academic year 2011-12, PMDS was started with the initiative by Professor Girijesh Pant, then Vice Chancellor of the University to support poor and meritorious students of Doon University. Towards this with support from Pandit Dangwal family, an endowment of `55 lakh was kept as the seed money.