The Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission on Tuesday ordered a Vigilance Bureau (VB) probe against the bungling of funds pertaining to scholarships by a private college of Patiala. Disclosing this on Tuesday, Chairman of the Commission Rajesh Bagha said the Commission has ordered the probe after probe at its own level.
He said the Commission had received a complaint from Bachelor of Education (BEd) and Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) students of a private college of Patiala regarding illicit levying of fees from the students belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) category and defrauding them by spreading misinformation regarding the free admissions. In this way, the college bungled the funds received from Punjab government and Union government concerning the scholarships, said Bagha.
He further said that the matter was investigated by the District Welfare Officer, Patiala who visited the college and found that the fees amounting to Rs 39,950 annually was levied from the students and no receipt for the same was issued. Similarly, the students hailing from SC category were made to shell out Rs 6,930 and no receipt regarding the same was given either. The complaint was also investigated by the Director, Education Department, Punjab but the outcome was not clear.