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New Delhi: The AAP government is planning to give scholarships to 10,000 students with what it says is Rs21 crore lying unutilised for years by the previous Sheila Dikshit government.
Improving the standard of education in the national capital has been declared as one of the top priorities of the over one-month old Aam Aadmi Party government, led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“A lot of money was spent in the education sector by the previous Congress government, but in an unplanned manner. I am going to make an announcement soon that we will give scholarships to 10,000 students in the higher education sector,” Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said in an interview.
Sisodia said the earlier government had given scholarships to 100-150 students from poor backgrounds.
During a meeting last month with the department of higher education Sisodia had expressed displeasure at the state of affairs. He had pointed out that while there is provision for scholarships to underprivileged students which reduces the cost by 50 percent, last year only seven students benefited from it. “You have money on you but you are not giving it to them,” the minister said, without naming the Congress government which ruled Delhi for 15 consecutive years.
“In the name of scholarships an amount of Rs21 crore was lying with the government. There are students who need money,” Sisodia added. The minister said the previous regime had no plan in place to disburse the amount earmarked for scholarships. “There was no plan for disbursing the money. I asked the officials to draw up a plan,” he said.
IANS
