Jalandhar, June 9
Accusing the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government of embezzling the scholarship money of two lakh students belonging to Scheduled Castes, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab has demanded the Punjab Police Chief to register a case against the state’s Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Social Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot under SC/ST Act and also warned the Punjab government to release the scholarship money within a week. Addressing the media here on Wednesday, AAP’s senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema and other party leaders stated that Captain Amarinder Singh and the Congress had promised during the 2017 elections that the SAD-BJP government would investigate the scam in SC scholarships, but the Captain government did not take any action against the accused.
Taking a dig, Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that Captain Amarinder Singh and the Congress leaders who came to power had committed a massive scam by spending the scholarship money of the SC students on other works, which had ruined the lives of two lakh SC students in Punjab today. Cheema said that he has also written a letter to the Punjab Police Chief regarding this scam and demanded to register a case against Cabinet Ministers Manpreet Singh Badal and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, under the SC/ST Act, as Punjab government has misappropriated scholarship money by scam in post-matric scholarship scheme; due to which the roll numbers of more than two lakh Dalit students had been withheld by the private colleges of Punjab. “The future of these students is in question due to non-receipt of scholarships. These students are deprived of their degrees because they belonged to the Dalit community,” he added.
Cheema further said that it was imperative to take stern action against the culprits who were depriving the SC students of their right to education. “The Dalit children are already reaching higher education after enduring many hardships, but in such a scenario, their future is being tarnished due to scams by ministers, is extremely worrying and reprehensible,” said Cheema. He said that the Aam Aadmi Party had been raising the issue for a long time but no action was taken against the ministers who looted the Dalit students. Cheema alleged that Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was not taking any interest in the affairs of the state and he did not care about the Dalit students.
Cheema demanded from the Punjab DGP that a case be registered against Ministers Manpreet Singh Badal and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, involved in the scam, under SC/ST Act for violating the rights of Dalit children and ruining their future and should be arrested immediately. “It is imperative that this be done so that in future no one would dare to tamper with the future of Dalit children in this manner. If no action is taken in this matter, the Aam Aadmi Party would wage a big struggle against the Captain government of Punjab,” he added. On the occasion, MLA Jagtar Singh Jagga Hissowal, MLA Baldev Singh Jaito, senior leader Manwinder Singh Giaspura, Lal Chand Katruchakk, Dr Shiv Dayal Mali, Surinder Sodhi, Harminder Bakshi and Darshan Lal Bhagat were also present.
