The Welfare Minister, Punjab, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot today assured that the balance funds pertaining to the Post-Matric Scholarship meant for the students of the state belonging to Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes category would be released soon.Divulging this on the eve of meeting delegations of various un-aided colleges, the minister said that he had recently met Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mr. Thavar Chand Gehlot and Union Minister of State Mr. Vijay Sampla during the course of which the Union Government gave assurance regarding the sooner release of the scholarship.Earlier, the members of Punjab Un-aided Colleges Association demanded the release of scholarship funds amounting to Rs. 350 crore for 2015-16 and more than Rs. 500 crore for 2016-17 from the welfare minister. Dr. Anshu Kataria said that since many years the full scholarship of OBC students of Punjab has not been released whereas states like-Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and many more are releasing full tuition fees at the regular intervals. They further said that the colleges are facing an acute financial crisis due to the non-release of OBC scholarship amount. The representatives in the delegation apprised the minister in a detailed manner about their difficulties as well as the demands which were patiently listened to by the minister who gave assurance regarding their speedy redressal.Among others present on the occasion included ex-minister Mr. Inderjit Singh Zira, MLA Fazilka Mr. Davinder Singh Ghubaya, President Nursing College Association Mr. Charanjit Singh Walia, President Punjab Un-aided College Association Dr. Anshu Kataria, President Punjab Dental College Association Lt. Col G.S. Sandhu and President B.ED. College Association Mr. Jasnik Singh.