While the Department of Higher & Technical Education has gone ahead with disbursement of the Post Metric Central Scholarship (PMCS) amounting to Rs. 5.07 Crores, the All Nagaland College Students Union (ANCSU) has refused to accept the scholarship until and unless it was paid in full installment.
Although it was learnt that Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio was himself not too pleased with the present scheme of things, the Director, Higher & Technical Education finds himself with no other option but to follow the Centre’s directive of paying the scholarships in installment rather than disbursing it in one go as it was done in the past. With students’ threatening to take the issue to the streets, the State government is finding itself in a Catch-22 situation.
The department has already dispatched bank drafts to most of the colleges in the State in compliance with the government’s instruction. It must be mentioned that most people (even within the media) were taken by surprise over the central government’s decision to pay the scholarship in two installments. This is the first time that payment is being made in two installments in Nagaland and hence the confusion as also the fear of the unknown. The Chief Minister should himself take up the issue with the Centre because as per the directive, the officials sitting in the Directorate have no power to hold back the amount sanctioned for the purpose.
There are 31,005 eligible students in and around 750 schools and colleges within the State and in various States of the country who have applied for post metric central scholarship for the year 2004-2005. The overall objective of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes students studying at post metriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education and also that no brilliant student is prevented on ground of poverty from pursuing an academic career.
Earlier, Delhi had sanctioned only about Rs 5.7 crore out of Nagaland’s total demand of approximately Rs 19 crore. One of the reasons cited for the delay in scholarships is due to the fact that six Naga students had enrolled in an educational institution in Delhi, which is not recognized by the Ministry of Tribal Welfare. However this argument does not hold much ground. While it is true that scholarship should be given for those studying in recognized institutions, why should over 30, 000 scholarship deserving students be denied their due because of only six students.
