ACB registers case against five officials, private persons in scholarship fraud in J&K

JAMMU: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday registered a formal case against five officials, including a former director, and several private individuals in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds under the post-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in Jammu and Kashmir.

An FIR has been registered under the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act against the then director of tribal affairs Mohammad Sharief Choudhary, then assistant director Muzaffar Wani, then junior assistant Gulzar Hussain, then in-charge computer assistant Javed Ahmed, and then head assistant Shaheen Naqishbandi as well as several private individuals who owned educational institutes in the Rajouri and Poonch districts, a spokesperson for the ACB said.

The case stems from an ACB investigation into allegations that officials from the Directorate of Tribal Affairs misused funds meant for scholarships under Government of India’s Post Matric scholarship scheme, he said.

This scheme provides a financial assistance of Rs 18,000 per student, plus Rs 2,300 as maintenance allowance to ST students pursuing post-matriculation education. However, between 2014 and 2018, approximately Rs 1.66 crore was disbursed to unrecognised institutes for unapproved courses, he said.

The investigation revealed that several institutes allegedly received huge scholarship funds without proper accreditation, did not conduct examinations through the relevant body, and issued certificates of little-to-no value.

By bypassing the scheme’s guidelines, these officials and institute owners allegedly conspired to misappropriate Rs 1.66 crore, the spokesperson said. (PTI)