Dimapur, July 18 : It has been unearthed that scholarships meant for a section of Scheduled Tribe students in Nagaland have already been released, as far as February but the Nagaland government is not releasing the funds yet.
The step-motherly treatment of the government concerning the mess over the post-matriculation scholarship scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs meant for Scheduled Tribe students from Nagaland continues to irk students and the Eastern Naga Students’ Union of Dimapur (ENSUD) Education Initiative Committee.
On Monday, students seeking admission to various colleges and universities in India met with ENSUD leaders at the Dimapur town hall. The students were accompanied by their parents.
ENSUD officials said that on July 6, 2016 they had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister TR Zeliang demanding release of the full post-matriculation scholarship for the year 2014-2016. They also requested the chief minister to respond on or before July 9, 2016.
However, the student leaders said, even after the chief minister’s assurance to reply within ten days, there was no response from the state government.
They mentioned that the Scheduled Tribe students from Nagaland have not received the full amount whereas Scheduled Tribe students from other states in the same colleges and universities had already received their full scholarships.
Student representative from Mewar University T Thomas Konyak said during a meeting with the officials of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the officials had held the Nagaland government responsible for not showing interest to the matter unlike the other states. It was remarked during the meeting that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs was willing to assist if the state government shows interest, the students’ representative stated.
During the Town Hall meeting, the students’ leaders handed out a document stating the release of central assistance to the state government of Nagaland, in full and final installment of projected expenditure for the year 2015-16 (scheme of Post Matric Scholarship to ST students) by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs GOI.
It was stated that an amount of Rs.26, 46, 34,161 was released to the state government of Nagaland. In fact, the funds were actually released several months ago–on February 4, 2016.
The members of the meeting have questioned why the state government of Nagaland was taking time to release the scholarship when four months had already passed by.
They also questioned the State Level Committee set up to look into the current issue which has, as is usual with government committees and commissions, not come up with any report or response.
More than 300 students have been affected by this imbroglio. With no concrete response from the state, the students concluded that they are likely to agitate against the Nagaland government.
