Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Chandigarh, July 13
In a new development, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked for files pertaining to the SC scholarship scam which surfaced during the tenure of the previous Congress government.
Highly placed sources said the CM Office had sought details of the expenditure out of the funds meant for the scholarship signalling possible action against former minister for social welfare Sadhu Singh Dharamsot.
He is already in judicial custody following his arrest by the Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case related to felling of trees and other illegalities.
Action is being initiated on the basis of the report recently submitted by inquiry officer BR Bansal, a former district and sessions judge. It has been pointed out that instructions of the then chief minister and the principal secretary of the department for the disbursal of scholarship funds to SC students were ignored to pass undue benefits to certain private institutes by adopting unfair practices.
In the two-year-old multi-crore scam in the disbursal of SC post-matric scholarship funds to private educational institutes, the inquiry held six officials of the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities responsible for wilfully causing financial loss to the state government, running into crores of rupees.
More trouble brewing for Sadhu Singh Dharamsot as CM Bhagwant Mann seeks files pertaining to SC scholarship scam
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