Adi-Dravida welfare panel meets governor over non-payment of scholarships

CHENNAI: Members of the Tamil Nadu

Adi-Dravida

welfare committee filed a petition with governor Banwarilal Purohit about deemed universities in the state not releasing

scholarships

for students belonging to SC/ST communities.

This is a gross violation of government order number 92, said S Selvakumar, one of the committee members who met Purohit on Friday. Issues pertaining to slashing of scholarships to SC/ST engineering,

medical and arts college students

and increase in tuition fees for self-financing colleges were also discussed during this meet.

TOI had reported on government cutting post-matriculation scholarship (PMS) for Dalit and tribal students in private colleges under management quota thereby forcing them to pay a lump sum amount from their own pockets.

While some had managed to bridge this gap by acquiring loans from local moneylenders, majority have struggled to pay their tuition fees and some higher educational institutions have barred them from taking up their semester exams.

The scheme launched by late chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2012 to reduce dropout rates among SC/ST students, was cut within one year from her demise without the approval and consensus of the assembly.

“So we have requested the governor to take necessary action and he has assured to resolve it at the earliest possible,” said Selvakumar.

In addition to this, violations in payments made to SC/ST sanitary workers employed by various departments of the state government on contractual basis were also brought to the governor’s notice.

While the minimum pay varies from ₹6,000-₹17,000 per month as per existing norms, many were paid only less than ₹3,000 and despite repeated complaints, the situation has remained the same for nearly 15 years, he added. “Most of them are illiterates and middlemen swindled away money by exploiting this factor”.

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