Govt gets whiff of con job in seeking scholarship

By Our Staff Reporter
Imphal, Aug 28 : Following 'detection of irregularities and tampering of documents submitted for availing Ishan Uday Scholarships, 2020-21,' the Directorate of University and Higher Education, Manipur has lodged complaints at Wangoi Police Station to take legal action against persons involved in the scam, said a well placed source.
The Directorate submitted written complaints to the Officer-in-Charge of the police station on August 24 last.
It may be mentioned that the matter came to light after the Government received complaints in this regard from some sections of the public in the latter part of July this year.
Acting promptly on the matter, on August 3, 2021, Higher & Technical Education Department sent letters to Manipur University, National Sports University, Central Agricultural University, Manipur University of Culture, Dhanamanjuri University, Manipur Technical University, NIT Manipur, Controller of Technical Education and Director (U&HE) asking the authority of these institutes to verify the student beneficiaries under the scheme in respect of colleges under their administrative control by downloading the list of students from the National Scholarships Portal (NSP).
It was also instructed that the verified list, duly authenticated and signed should be submitted to Higher and Technical Education Department by August 10, 2021.
The Government also wrote to the University Grants Commission (UGC) to share the lists of verified applicants of Ishan Uday Scholarship, particularly for the students hailing from Manipur.
The UGC was also requested to keep the payment of beneficiaries from Manipur on hold until a communication was received from the Higher and Technical Education Department, Government of Manipur. Response from UGC is awaited on this.
On August 17, 2021, University & Higher Education Directorate submitted a verification report of the selected students of different colleges under Ishan Uday Scholarship, 2020-21 to the Commissioner (Higher & Technical Education).
As per the report, 138 students of Kamakhya Pemton College and three students of Mayai Lambi College were found having tampered marks while submitting documents to avail the scholarships under the scheme.
Moreover, the report also stated that 17 colleges of Manipur had failed to submit verification reports of selected students till date despite repeated reminders.