Less than half disbursed for scholaships to SC students

Chandigarh, Mar 16 (UNI) The Punjab government today admitted that less than half of the earmarked amount of Rs 6,762.2 crore has been disbursed for scholarships to the scheduled caste students in schools, in the last two financial years.

A sum of Rs 679.29 crore only has been disbursed out of the total of Rs 2,973.82 crore earmarked for the scholarships to the SC students from class sixth onwards in 2004-05, while Rs 2,650.95 crore out of the earmarked money up to Rs 3,788.41 crore was disbursed in 2005-06 (up to February 28, 2006), Minister of State for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Gurkanwal Kaur informed the Vidhan Sabha in reply to a question here today.

A total of Rs 6,762.2 crore were earmarked in the two financial years (2004-05 and 2005-06) for disbursement to the SC students of class sixth and above under the State Education Welfare Scheme and post-metric Scholarships, while the total disbursement for the said period was marked at Rs 3,330.51 crore.

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