Aurangabad :

The social welfare department has distributed around Rs 122 crore as scholarship due for the last three years to around 56,562 students from 2,792 colleges in the district. However, due to lack of funds, the department still has to pay 36,746 students.

Shaikh Jaleel, assistant commissioner, social welfare office, said the students who received the benefits belong to socially backward classes and others. The funds were distributed to the students till March 31.

“The monetary benefits are given to SC category students whose family’s annual income is less than Rs two lakh, while for students from OBC, VJNT and other categories, the family income ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh,” Jaleeel said.

He further said the scholarship is given to the students to take care of their pocket money and educational fees. Meanwhile, freeship covers only tuition fees.

“All the funds received from the state government have been disbursed. To clear the pending dues, no additional funds were left,” Jaleel said.

Even as the 2013-14 academic year has ended, some colleges can still claim the pending scholarship money for students belonging to backward classes.

“Around 94 students from various graduate and postgraduate courses this year have still not received scholarships. Moreover, around eight students are still to get scholarships from the previous academic year,” said a principal of a private college on the condition of anonymity.

Jaleel said the students who applied for scholarships during the academic year 2013-14 will have to wait until the department receives funds from the state government. The students awaiting scholarships from the last academic year are likely to receive the funds by April 10, he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Aurangabad / by Himanshu Nitnaware, TNN / April 04th, 2014