As many as 830 minority institutions out of 1572 probed by the Ministry were allegedly found to be involved in deceitful activities.
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has unearthed the “biggest scholarship scam” wherein about 53 percent of beneficiaries of minority institutions in the country have reportedly been found to be ‘fake’. The purported scam is said to be worth a whopping Rs 144.83 over the past five years.
Citing an internal enquiry conducted by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, an India Today report said the probe unveiled “deep-rooted corruption” in 830 minority institutions in the country, adding that Union Minister Smriti Irani has approached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the alleged scam.
830 fake institutes
On July 10, the Ministry of Minority Affairs had lodged a complaint in this matter after it found discrepancies during an internal probe conducted in 100 districts across 34 states. As many as 830 minority institutions out of 1572 probed by the Ministry were allegedly found to be involved in deceitful activities, the report said.
As per the report, the statistics revealed so far are from 21 out of the 34 states while investigations are still underway in the rest of the 13 states, implying that the alleged scam could me much larger than what has been uncovered so far.
Launched in the year 2007-2008, the Union Ministry’s scholarship program covered around 1,80,000 institutions with scholarship starting from Class 1 students to higher education. The institutions in question have awarded these scholarships to fake beneficiaries, originally meant for minority students for whom these institutions claimed these benefits each year.
As part of their investigation, the CBI will probe the nodal officers of these establishments who provided approval reports as well as the district nodal officers who verified the fake cases. The central agency will also investigate how such a scam persisted for years in multiple states. Additionally, bank accounts linked to the 830 institutions accused of fraud so far, have been frozen.
Citing sources, the report said that the Ministry also questioned how banks allowed the opening of fake accounts for beneficiaries with fake Aadhar cards and KYC documents. It added that many of the said institutions managed to get themselves registered on the National Scholarship Portal and the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) despite being non-operational or in some cases, non-existent.
A state-wise list shared in the report listed the number of fake or non-operational institutions revealed during the Ministry’s probe.
In Chhattisgarh all 62 scrutinized institutions were found to be fake or non-operational, 99 out of 128 institutions in Rajasthan, 68 percent establishments in Assam, 64 percent in Karnataka, 44 percent in Uttar Pradesh and 39 percent in West Bengal.
Discrepancies
The report also highlighted several red flags that popped up during the probe leading to the scam being uncovered.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Anantnag, a college claimed 7,000 scholarships even though it only has 5,000 registered students while in Kerala’s Malappuram, one bank branch disbursed 66,000 scholarships, surpassing the registered number of minority students eligible for scholarships.
Similarly, a mobile number was found listed as parent’s contact for 22 Class 9 students. In another shocker, an institution handed out hostel scholarships to its students despite the establishment not having one.
Minority students in Punjab allegedly received scholarships despite not being enrolled in school
A bank branch in Assam allegedly had 66,000 beneficiaries, and the verification team was threatened at a madrasa when they attempted to verify student details
In Punjab, minority students received scholarships despite not being enrolled in the school.
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