Bhubaneswar: Wing Economy Wings (EOW) of the State Crime Branch on Thursday arrested a retired state of the State Higher Education Department in connection with a scholarship fraud involving the RS 36 Lakh.
The defendant, Prakash Chandra Rath, allegedly channeled scholarship money among several students who did not meet the requirements and did not strain illegally under the e-Medhabruti scheme during his term as secretary of the department in 2014-15.
Rath, who is responsible for the scholarship section in the Department of Higher Education, has retired from government services in 2016.
EOW has registered a case against RATH on October 31, 2017 based on complaints from the Ministry of Higher Education.
The department has known about the mistakes of major financial management and deviations in payment of e-Medhabruti (scholarship) to many students who do not meet the requirements in 2014-15, causing large losses to the government.
“During the investigation, we found that Rath had conspired by several other people and scholarships subject to sanctions with tastes around RS 36.10 Lakh support 235 students who did not meet the requirements.
He has violated existing guidelines for student election for scholarship awards,” said an EOW official.
According to the existing norm, students need to apply for a scholarship.
The concerned colleies should verify the authenticity of applicants and send applications to the government to provide scholarships.
It is Rath’s responsibility to place the application before the financial advisor for scholarship sanctions.
However, EOW found that Rath had gave scholarship sanctions without getting the validation of the colleges concerned and without the approval of the financial advisor.
“We are very suspicious that he commits fraud for his personal benefit and may have taken commissions from beneficiaries who do not meet the requirements.
Some illegal beneficiaries do not belong to Odisha.
Alleged involvement of others, including several staff of the Ministry of Higher Education,” officials said Eow.
Under the e-Medhabruti scheme, a plus II student can get an RS 3,000 scholarships every year for two years, a plus III student can obtain Rs 5,000 per year for three years and a PG student eligible to get Rs 10,000 every year for two years .
In addition, the government provides 10,000 scholarships every year to students who want to pursue technical and professional courses.
According to the norms, the income of applicants should not exceed Rs 6 lakh per year.