A Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report said suspected fraudulent payments of multi-crores of rupees were released by manipulating Aadhaar numbers of students under the post-matric scholarship scheme between 2014 and 2019 in Haryana.
“Suspected fraudulent payment of ₹18.98 crore was made by manipulating Aadhaar numbers of students. Payment of scholarship of ₹9.65 crore was suspected to be fraudulent as their details could not be verified with supporting records,” said the CAG report on ‘’Social, General and Economic Sectors’’ that was tabled during the recently concluded Budget session in the State Assembly.
The report said insufficient scrutiny of income-caste certificates, etc. of students resulted in irregular payment of scholarship totalling to ₹1.91 crore.
It added suspected fraudulent scholarship payments totalling to ₹4.74 crore was made to students studying outside the state. Also, only 52.24% of applications were paid scholarships during 2015-19, while 37% of approved cases were not paid scholarships.
The report said that the Technical Education department did not pay a scholarship totaling ₹17.98 crore to 7,757 students though the amount was sanctioned and drawn from the treasury.
Coverage of SC, OBC
Also, Annual Action Plan and database of eligible students to ascertain coverage of Scheduled Caste (SC)/Other Backwards Class (OBC) students under the schemes was not prepared, said the report.
The report also added that funds drawn in anticipation of expenditure were kept in bank accounts and unspent funds were not deposited in government accounts resulting in loss of interest of ₹6.43 crore to the State exchequer.
