In the largest minority scholarship scam in India, around 53% of organizations operating under the minority scholarship scheme were found to be 'bogus'. An internal investigation by the Ministry of Ethnic Minority Affairs has revealed deep-seated corruption at 830 such organizations, leading to a scam of Rs 144.83 crore over the past 5 years. Union Minister Smriti Irani referred the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation.
India Today learned that the Ministry of Ethnic Minority Affairs officially filed a complaint on this matter on July 10. The survey included surveys in 100 districts in 34 states. Out of 1,572 organizations examined, 830 were found to be involved in fraudulent activities. The statistics come from 21 of the 34 states, while institutional investigations of the remaining states are still ongoing.
Currently, the authorities have ordered to freeze of the accounts associated with these 830 establishments.
The Department's scholarship program extends to approximately 1,80,000 institutions, covering students in grades 1 through higher education. The initiative was launched during the 2007-2008 school year. With bogus beneficiaries to the program, scholarships for minority students were claimed by these organizations every year.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the lead agents at these organizations who provided corroborating reports, the county-level lead agents who verified cases of tampering, and how many states allowed this scam to persist for many years. Sources told India Today that the ministry has also raised questions about how banks have allowed the opening of fake accounts for beneficiaries with fake Aadhar cards and KYC documents.
Sources said that despite being either non-existent or inactive, many of the institutions reviewed managed to register on both the National Scholarship Portal and the District's Unified Information System for Education ( UDISE).
