More trouble brewing for Sadhu Singh Dharamsot as Punjab CM announces probe into scholarship scam

Tribune News Service

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Chandigarh, July 13

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today announced a comprehensive inquiry into irregularities in the post-matric scholarship scheme that surfaced during the tenure of the Congress government.

The development signals possible action against former Minister for Social Welfare Sadhu Singh Dharamsot. He is currently in judicial custody, following his arrest by the Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case related to the illegal felling of trees and other illegalities during his tenure as the Forest Minister.

Mann, in a tweet, said, “We will take strict action against those playing with the future of SC students. We will take note of the wrong expenditure.” He added, “Those guilty of these irregularities will be made answerable for the loot of every penny from the state exchequer.”

Highly placed sources confirmed that the CM office had asked for files and details of expenditure of the funds meant for scholarship.

Reliable sources said the action was being initiated on the basis of the report submitted by the inquiry officer, BR Bansal, a former District and Sessions Judge. It has been pointed out that instructions of the then Chief Minister and the Principal Secretary of the department for the disbursal of scholarship funds to SC students were “ignored to give undue benefits to certain private institutions”.

In the two-year-old multi-crore scam in the disbursal of SC post-matric scholarship funds to private educational institutions, the inquiry held six officials of the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities responsible for “causing a financial loss running into crores of rupees to the state government”.

It was found that instead of making entries in a single file, the erring officials made multiple files for approval. They made payments to certain institutions in violation of Cabinet directions for fair and transparent disbursal of funds.

A former Additional Chief Secretary, Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities, Kirpa Shankar Saroj, had submitted his report to the state government in August 2020 regarding irregularities in the disbursal of funds “which had been embezzled or paid to some ghost institutions”.

Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had constituted a three-member committee which gave a clean chit to Dharamsot. The previous government, led by Charanjit Singh Channi, also allegedly decided not to register any FIR.

More trouble brewing for Dharamsot?

• Additional Chief Secretary (Social Justice) Kirpa Shankar Saroj highlighted the scam in his report in August 2020.
• The scam of wrong disbursal of scholarships ran into Rs 55.71 crore
• Of the total, Rs 16.91 crore was allegedly wrongly disbursed to private institutes
• Former Minister for Social Welfare Sadhu Singh Dharamsot was given a clean chit by a committee constituted by former CM Capt Amarinder Singh
• The previous government, led by Charanjit Singh Channi, also allegedly decided not to register FIRs against institutions facing recovery of Rs 55.71 crore

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