Dalit scholarship: Sushil alleges irregularities in listing of

Alleging financial and other irregularities in the empanelment of 524 technical institutes from across the country for admission of dalit students from Bihar under a government post-matriculation scholarship programme, former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today demanded a probe.
"It appears financial and other irregularities have been committed in the empanelment of 524 technical institutes across the country in 2015-16 without doing physical verification of the institutes," he told reporters.
Claiming collusion between the state government officials and the empanelled institutes for "mutual benefits", Modi said the "beneficiary colleges" were initially asked to deposit Rs 5 lakh draft each and later to furnish bank guarantee of the said amount in lieu of the admissions.

He also charged the state government of delay in the release of scholarship funds.
He said the scholarship amounts, including fees for 30 out of 63 dalit students of a private engineering college in Odisha that threatened action for non-payment of dues, were released earlier this month only after much hue and cry.
Another incident has come to light in which scholarship of 100 students studying in Rajasthan has not been released as yet and they are being threatened by the college to deposit money or leave, he alleged.
The senior BJP leader also lashed out at the delay in the arrest of the suspended RJD MLA Rajballabh Yadav, accused of rape of a minor girl in Nalanda district, and urged the inspecting judge of the Patna High Court for intervention.

Alleging that "mishandling" of the rape charge has brought disrepute to the state, he said his party would raise the issue during budget session of the state legislature beginning February 25.