AAP accuses Centre, state govt of ruining academic institutions, careers of Dalit students in Punjab

Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday accused the Narendra Modi-led Central government, as well as the ruling Congress government in the state, of ruining hundreds of government, non-government, professional colleges in Punjab.

It also accused the Centre and Amarinder government of ruining careers of lakhs of Dalit students, teaching and non-teaching staff in the state.

In a joint statement here, Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, MLAs Manjit Singh Bilaspur and Kulwant Singh Pandori said a whopping amount of Rs 1,700 crore on account of the post-matric scholarship paid to hundreds of colleges and varsities in the state under the scheme was outstanding against the government.

Cheema informed that the state government had not yet issued the Usage (Utilization) Certificate (UC) of the scholarship amount released by the Union government in the year 2017-18, leading to an outstanding amount of more than Rs 1,000 crore for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20. "The amount had not been paid by the governments yet, which had deprived more than a million Dalit students of higher and professional education from various degree colleges and universities in the state during the year 2018-19," he said.

There is no denying the fact that due to the indifferent attitude of the state and Central governments, nearly 50 private professional colleges in various parts of Punjab, including Dhudhike, Goniana, Bagha Purana had faced closure and hundreds of others, including Punjabi University, Patiala, had been facing acute financial crisis, costing jobs of thousands of their teaching and non-teaching employees, the AAP said.

Bilaspur and Pandori said that the people of Punjab, especially from Fazilka, Dakha, Phagwara and Mukerian, and the 'Dalit' students, should quiz the Congress-led government in the state and the BJP-led Union government for their colossal failure to tackle the issue of pending scholarship dues.