In the name of Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) Three years down the line, the ill-fated scholarship scheme has only destroyed thousands of careers SHAM SCHEME HAROON MIRANI As the autumn of 2010 arrived, Kashmir was still reeling in anger following three years of turmoil. New Delhi, however, was desperate to somehow cool the tempers in Kashmir. They tried to win the hearts of youth by doling out a massive Rs 1200 crore Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS). The common perception in New Delhi was that it will earn a soft spot somewhere in the hearts of ‘youth on the edge.’ Three years down the line, the ill-fated scholarship scheme has destroyed thousands of careers. The downfall of this scholarship started in September 2011, when the Union cabinet approved it with no strings attached. Under the program the government proposed to provide 5000 fresh scholarships (4500 for general degree, 250 for engineering and 250 for medical studies) every year for the next five years. “Every scholar will get up to Rs.30,000 per annum for tuition fees for general degree courses, up to Rs.1.25 lakh per annum for engineering course and up to Rs.3 lakh per annum for medical studies,” the cabinet order read. “In addition to these, hostel fees and incidentals will also be given for all categories of courses up to a ceiling of Rs. one lakh per annum.” As there was vacuum of information over the implementation of this scheme, various shady NGOs and consultants, some close to the security grid, came forward claiming to be the intermediaries of this scheme. The government tacitly endorsed them by backing their programs and even participating in them. It was simple. “Just register for Rs 250 and get the scholarship,” they would claim. The fee soon turned into a security deposit and the amount paid by the students reached around Rs 2 lakhs. And the colleges selected were the worst in entire India. “These touts charged the initial fee from the students ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 Lakh,” said G N Var, Chairman Coaching Centres Association of Kashmir (CCAK) that was at the forefront of unearthing this scandal. “On the other side they earned commission to the tune of Rs one lakh per student from those shady colleges where they dispatched these students.” “As the number of students ran into thousands, they effectively collected crores from both sides,” said Var. “Under this strategy they duped 16000 students (5000 in 2012, 11000 in 2013) worth more than Rs 100 crores.” On October 09, 2012, when an NGO “JK Peace Foundation (JKPF)” managed to flag off 700 students in presence of Governor N N Vohra as part of the first lot of students (batch 2013-14) funded under PMSSS, all hell broke loose. “It was a kind of turning point as it gave a huge amount of confidence to the people about the genuineness of these touts,” said Var. “Thousands of families willingly went to these touts only to get fleeced and the career of their wards was destroyed.” Ironically, the select list of 2013-14 batch students was finalized in 2013, a year after the infamous flag-off ceremony. The chairman of JKPF Fayaz Ahmad Bhat has a unique background that makes him invincible. According to media reports “he was allegedly a militant in 1990s who changed loyalties and started working for the state. He tried his luck in politics too and joined several political parties in succession. He has roped in every high and mighty in his NGO. The foundation’s twin websites display Vohra as a chief patron and DGP Ashok Prasad, Agriculture minister Ghulam Hassan Mir and Akhilesh Yadav, CM UP among others as patrons. Vohra is a regular at the events organized by his foundation. With such a profile, students had little to doubt. As the word spread about the lucrative money in the scheme, there was a rush of NGOs offering PMSSS services. Mohammed Irfan Malik, a student from Shopian, was trapped in a similar way. He applied for the scholarship to pursue B. Pharma degree through J&K Peoples Forum. “I am from a poor family and this opportunity looked like a God’s gift,” said Irfan. After submitting his original documents Irfan got a call from the NGO informing him of his selection at Shekhawati College of Pharmacy, Rajasthan. long with Irfan, 22 others from different districts were also selected in the same course. They joined the college, studied and even appeared in the first year examinations, but the scholarship never came. Finally the college administration threw them out of the college. “We have spent almost Rs 60,000 on our own on boarding lodging and other expenses, but the fee of Rs 6 to 7 Lakh at our college is simply unaffordable for us,” said Irfan who now resides in a rented accommodation outside the college, waiting for a miracle. In the 2012 select list of candidates released by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), all of these students were shown ineligible as they had failed to submit the original certificates before the deadline of September 30. “When we asked the Forum people about our certificates, they started abusing and threatening us,” said Irfan. Like a typical broker, the People’s Forum had accomplished a commission-based deal with several colleges like that of Shekhawati. Many colleges and many willing students helped ensure that the forum earned crores. Those who managed the forum became overnight millionaires. But with money came differences and the forum split into two as everybody wanted more and more. The new entity was called J&K Peoples Forum, and they soon started their own money game with students. Other NGOs even sent field agents on home-to-home search to find potential students. Javid Bashir of Kandi Handwara was elated when a woman field agent of ‘Right Education’ told him that he can pursue Bachelor of Dental Sciences under this scholarship. After he persuaded his parents, he was soon forced to pay Rs 1.5 lakh as an initial cost. “Then everything would be free,” Dr. Saleem of “Right Education” had promised him. Right Education is the consultancy arm of MULTIBIZ, whose website terms it as a “J&K based company engaged in socially responsible operations.” Started in 2012, the company has its headquarter at Cement bridge, Noorbagh with several district offices and number of field agents. In Kuwara alone Right Education persuaded 22 more students to cough up around Rs 40 lakh. “They soon started dilly dallying and then gave us an admission letter of some Kolka Dental College Meerut,” said Azharudin, relative of Javid. “The letter turned out to be a fake one and our dreams crashed. When we confronted them they started abusing us.” Javid’s family somehow managed to get the money back after a year long struggle, but others were not that lucky. Javid’s dream of quality education cost him one academic year. Abusing and use of muscle power to counter these students has been a hallmark of these NGOs. In case of Hilal Ahmad of Ganderbal, who was lured by a Karan Nagar based consultant, Inam ul Haq, the situation was humiliating. “They kicked us out of the office when we demanded our money back,” said Hilal. Promised with a B.Tech degree, Hilal had given the consultant Rs 20,000 in cash and then deposited Rs 10,000 more in his account (SB-2204 JK Bank of Zoonimar dated 10-10-2012.) Hilal was given admission letter to DNS College Amroha, UP. On visiting the college, he met some distraught Kashmiri students who told him, “it is a fraud as there is no scholarship.” They came back dejected and depressed, and faced further humiliation at the consultant’s office. “We lost money, but our heart bleeds over the fact that our child lost two vital academic years,” said Hilal’s uncle. Even today the government claims that the Crime Branch is investigating the matter, but the web pages of these consultants openly project themselves as intermediaries. The Linkedin page of ‘Fayaz International Educational Point (FIEP),’ states that ‘we can provide you (outside colleges) Kashmiri students under MHRD scholarship in lieu of service charges.’ The consultancy claims of charging nothing from students, but the students have different tales to tell. “At first they told us to give Rs 10,000 each,” said Ali Mohammed of Tujjar Shareef, Baramulla, who had applied for B.Tech in 2013 for his son Ishfaq Ahmad through FIEP. “After number of reminders and much delay, its owner Fayaz Ahmad came and told us that B. Tech admission can’t be done under this scheme as only BBA degree is possible.” Ishfaq got Rs 7000 back, but lost one academic year in this delay. Four fellow students of Ishfaq were selected for BBA in Dev Bhoomi College, Himachal Pradesh, only to be kicked out a month later, after being told that there is no scholarship. CCAK had sent a three member committee to inspect some of these colleges and their report was shocking. “We found that these colleges are unranked, without faculty and without other facilities. In fact they are tin sheds erected overnight just for cashing on Rs 1200 crores PMSSS,” said Var. As hundreds of students came back, people demanded punishment to these touts, but till date only promises have been made. On September 22, 2013 Union HRD minister Shashi Tharoor, while addressing the convocation of National Institute of Technology, Srinagar at SKICC, assured the students of looking into the PMSSS complaints. I assure you that every complaint and application is being reviewed and will be addressed, Tharoor said. On October 04, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told the state Legislative Council that the cases of bungling by NGOs in the PMSSS are being investigated by the Crime Branch. But till date not a single person has been brought to the book.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 07:01:08 +0000
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