Non-implementation of PM scholarship scheme

Patna: The Patna high court has asked the Centre and state government to reply as to why the benefit of Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students (PMS-SC), a flagship programme of central government, has not been implemented in Bihar.
A division of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Partha Sarthy, while hearing a PIL filed by Rajeev Kumar and others, through virtual mode on Friday, directed the officers concerned to file their replies in six weeks.This matter will be heard again on March 23.
This PIL has been filed for expeditious implementation of a particular provision of PMS-SC in Bihar, whereby a “Freeship card” is granted to an eligible student of Scheduled Caste (SC) category studying in a college/university of approved accreditation. The card holder can be admitted in any college or university without prepayment of any admission charges, tuition, laboratory hostel and other academic fees on the condition that when the amount of scholarship will be transferred directly into the account of the beneficiary student, the same will be paid to college or university where the beneficiary has been enrolled. Validity of such scholarship is for five years (from 2020-21 to 2025-26).
It was asserted that the state government refused to implement this Freeship card scheme on account of prevailing scheme of the state government, namely Student Credit Card Yojana (SCCY), whereby maximum loan up to Rs4 lakhs is provided to the needy students of deprived sections, which is to be repaid afterwards.
Rajesh Kumar, the co-petitioner and general secretary of a civic forum namely Youths for Dalit Adivasi Rights’, had filed a representation before the principal secretary of SC&ST welfare department of state government for implementation of Freeship card scheme in Bihar but the same was rejected on the pretext of SCCY.
Petitioners’ counsels Vikas Pankaj and Pratyush Kumar submitted that the state government was arbitrarily comparing its SCCY with the PMS-SC as both schemes have different nature and objectives. Whereas the central scheme is of mandatory payment of scholarship to benefit the deprived sections of society, the state scheme is in the nature of educational loan with a small gap of moratorium (period of no interest), but the same is to be repaid later with small interest.