The Chief Parliamentary Secretary Local Government Mr. Som Parkash, through the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister today urged the union government to immediately release an amount of Rs. 245 Crore to be disbursed as the post matric scholarships to the students belonging to the scheduled castes.In a communiqué to the union government Mr. Som Parkash especially mentioned that Rs. 245 crore was still pending which was to be given during the last financial year. He urged the government of India to release the last year’s as well as this year’s amount due so that it could be given to the beneficiaries without any further delay.
Quoting the directions of the High Court, the CPS said that although the private colleges could not be compelled to admit scheduled castes students without charging any fee but the same fee could be deposited from the funds allocated for the Post Matric Scholarships and the rising unrest amongst the students could be checked at the same time. He further suggested that on similar lines as the private Sugar Mills have been supported by the Punjab government for procuring loans to be paid to the farmers, the Punjab government should also facilitate the students belonging to scheduled castes to get monetary help in the form of soft loans from the banks.Meanwhile, Mr. Som Parkash also made a fervent appeal to the parents and students of the Scheduled castes families not to get carried away with any provocative propaganda of divisive forces as the government was already in the process of getting the funds released by the government of India.