Uttar Pradesh Minister for Minorities Welfare and Urban Development Mohammad Azam Khan today clarified that the decision of directly transferring the amount of pre-matric scholarship of the students belonging to the minorities to their bank accounts, has been taken with a view to bringing about transparency in distribution of scholarship and ensuring full monetary benefit of the scheme to the students. The order has been issued to dispel doubts prevailing in educational insititutions, especially in madarsas with regard to this government decision.
The Minister said the government had been in receipt of frequent complaints regarding beneficiaries not getting full amount of scholarship and misappropriation of the whole amount or a part of it by middle men. Keeping in view these complaints, the government had finally taken this decision in the interest of students. He said the pre-matric scholarship of the minorities department will be directly transferred to the accounts of students opened in the CBS branches of the banks, in place of getting it distributed through education funds/education committees or schools.
Regarding objection of the educational institutions and madarsas that this system had not been adopted by the other welfare departments for distribution of the scholarship, the minister said this decision was a new initiative for improving the system and sooner and later other departments would also follow the suit in order to doing away with the growing corruption in distribution of scholarship as well as the role of middle men in it. Reacting sharply to the doubts being created by the educational institutions and madarsas on this issue, Mr Khan said as the salaries of teachers could not be shared by the students, in the same way the amount of scholarships could not be shared by the educational institutions. He said for doing away with the malpractices in distribution of scholarships, the department had taken a novel initiative through optimum use of modern technology and for implementing the decision, the accounts of the students were being opened in CBS bank branches, so that the amount of their scholarship could be transferred directly to their account and they could spend the whole money on their education without any misappropriation. The minister said the date of opening the bank accounts of the students under the scheme had been extended till September 15 next. He said all the district magistrates had been directed by the government to get opened these accounts only in the CBS bank branches at all cost by the prescribed date. He said at the time of opening of these accounts, it should be ensured that mobile number of parents or students and the principal of the educational institution concerned must be registered in the banks, so that they could be immediately intimated the moment amount is transferred to their account. Mr Khan said these accounts could also be opened in those branches of the district co-operative banks which are going to adopt CBS system very soon. Such branches of these banks are located in Kheri, Etawah, Saharanpur, Shahjahanpur, Moradabad, Rampur and Budaon, Orai, Ferozabad, Muzzafarnagar, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Bulandshahr and Barielly. UNI