Ranchi (Jharkhand): An alleged scholarship scam has come to light in Jharkhand which has revealed several cases of fraud by middlemen, school staff, and state government employees to illegally divert funds from a Central scholarship for minority students in the state. Rs 23 crore from a central government-funded scholarship of Rs 61 crore was fraudulently transferred to different accounts. The scam which took place during the regime of former Chief Minister Raghubar Das has been exposed by an English-language newspaper.
Major scholarship scam uncovered in Jharkhand The fraud was first detected in a government-funded Madarsa in Bongaosori village of Dulmi block in Ramgarh district.
When the team from ETV Bharat reached the madrasa, it presented a dilapidated condition as big bushes had grown all around.
According to locals, the madrasa was closed since lockdown was imposed after the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The Anjuman Committee had demanded an inquiry into the matter. The committee had appealed to the DC of Ramgarh, fearing fraud in the disbursement of scholarship money.
The Anjuman Committee wrote to the DC that during the financial year 2019-20, scholarships were given to women and men in the Faizul Raza Madarsa as students of Class VIII.
When ETV Bharat spoke to District Welfare Officer Rameshwar Chaudhary, he said that on the instructions of the Deputy Commissioner, a 3-member team is investigating the case. Prima facie there is no clear evidence of any forgery but the investigation process is going on.
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SHOW CAUSE NOTICE ISSUED
The directors of schools and Madrasas, whose names have cropped up in connection with the fraud, are in a bind.
In Dhanbad, directors of five private schools Eden School, Govindpur, Modern Public School, Chirkunda, Saint Xavier's Mission School, Barwada and Colonel Public School, Baghmara have demanded an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau as the names of some students who received the scholarship from these schools have come up.
Major scholarship scam uncovered in Jharkhand They have said that a scholarship of Rs 10 to Rs 12 thousand has been taken in the name of many students, who were never been enrolled in their schools.
Dhanbad District Welfare Officer Dayanand Dubey has issued a show-cause notice to two employees who were looking after the work of the National Scholarship Portal.
THE FRAUDSTERS STILL ACTIVE
Even during the financial year, 2020-21 attempts were made to illegally divert funds from the national scholarship. The fraudsters had tried to tamper with the portal of Saint Xavier's Public School, Barwaadda. The update regarding admission was uploaded but only six students were on the portal.
Major scholarship scam uncovered in Jharkhand The password failed to work when the Principal tried to upload the information of other students, however, after he contacted the District Welfare Officer, he came to know that his mobile number has been removed and the mobile number of another person has been uploaded.
After the matter was solved he saw that a total of 341 students were registered on the portal.
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THE SCAM?
According to media reports, fraudsters search for the needy people of the minority community and take the information of their Aadhaar cards and bank accounts in the name of getting help for them from Saudi Arabia. After this, the application for the scholarship is submitted in collusion of the school on the National Scholarship Portal.
Once the scholarship amount is credited in the bank account, these people give some money to the holder of the bank account and the rest of the money is kept by them.
During a press conference, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that for the year 2019-20, the Centre had allocated Rs 61 crore to the Jharkhand government for scholarships and about Rs, 23 crores were withdrawn from the bank accounts in a fraudulent manner. He further said that this all took place under the BJP lead government of Raghuvar Das.
The matter comes under the Welfare Department and Louis Marandi was the Welfare Minister at that time. Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that he does not believe in revenge doing politics but that the scam will be investigated and action will be taken against the culprits and the Chief Minister Hemant Soren has given the responsibility of investigating the scam to Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh.
Louise Marandi who was the Social Welfare Department minister at the time refused to comment on the matter.
According to the election pundits, the disclosure of the scandal at the very outset of the voting can spoil the political equation and that is why he is maintaining silence over the matter.
