By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Srinagar: A private engineering college in Rohtak, Haryana has prohibited 13 students from Jammu and Kashmir from appearing in end-semester examinations over non- payment of fees.
According to the students they were selected for the Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS), a centrally sponsored scheme for J&K students who wishe to pursue studies outside the state.
The college has apparently expelled these 13 students, due to the non payment of college dues as the HRD Ministry is not paying their fee as promised under PMSSS.
Students from Kashmir who were expelled from Rohtak based engineering college [Courtesy : Amar Ujala]
The students are to appear for their third semester examination next month for B.Tech. Course at Rohtak Institute of Engineering and Management (RIEM).
“The institute told the students that it had not received the funds against their names from Union HRD ministry,” said Kishore Chala, Director RIEM and added that an agreement was reached between the students and the management that on payment of Rs 20,000 per semester they will be allowed to continue their studies. But unfortunately, the students later
backed out, he informed.
“I am still open to talks with them. We don’t want them to suffer for want of funds,” he said.
Students are expressing their inability to pay the sum as their families had been economically devastated post September floods.
Nasir Sofi, an expelled Kashmiri student told TCN, “We were promised full scholarship under PMSSS at the time of admission in 2013.The college expelled us from the hostel last month for non payment of fee by Union HRD Ministry. The college management is asking us to deposit the required sum in order to continue our studies which we can’t pay due to money constraints.”
The students maintained that they had taken admission after a Srinagar-based consultancy Right to Education had promised them free education in the Rohtak College.
“These students were recruited through some NGOs. When they were recruited for this college, it was not under the requisition of the AICTE. So now they have been expelled,” said Priya Sethi, MoS for Education, J&K, to news channel Times Now. She said that she would be bringing up the matter in a government meeting later this month.
It is pertinent to mention here that, Prime Minister Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) was launched by UPA-II after the 2010 massive uprising, as an effort to help Kashmiri students in getting admissions in reputed colleges of India.
The scheme since its inception has been riddled in several scams, with almost not transparency and inclusion of several mediators and NGOs led to massive embezzlement of funds meant for scholarship of selected students.