ED attaches ₹13.83-crore assets in Uttarakhand SC/ST scholarship scam case

Lucknow (Raghwendra Pratap Singh) : The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached properties worth about ₹13.83 crore in connection with the alleged Scheduled Caste(SC)/Scheduled Tribe(ST) scholarship scam in Uttarakhand.

The ED probe is based on a First Information Report registered by the State police alleging siphoning off of post-matric scholarships meant for SC/ST students from 2011-12 to 2016-17.

According to the agency, its probe revealed irregularities in certain private educational institutions, such as Motherhood Institute of Management & Technology and Roorkee Institute of Management Sciences/Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Uttarakhand; and Mahaveer Institute of Technology in Uttar Pradesh.

It is alleged that the management of the institutions and associated societies/trusts fraudulently obtained scholarship funds released by the Social Welfare Department of the Uttarakhand government by showing ineligible, non-genuine, and non-verifiable students as beneficiaries.

The ED, in its statement, said 6,208 scholarship claims were processed by the District Social Welfare Officer, Haridwar, resulting in disbursement of about ₹27.98 crore as scholarship funds during the checked period.