They brought home laurels but govt not impressed

Then,Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had announced an award of Rs 2 lakh for the girl. Shilpi is yet to see a penny.

Despite financial constraints — Shilpi’s mother is a school peon and her father is a cook — the girl is pursuing a course at the Government College of Fine Arts in Chandigarh.

Principal of BCM Senior Secondary School,M R Mehta,said: “We sent many reminders to the Education department and political leaders for the award money but to no avail.”

This year,Prabhjot Kaur,another Class XII student of BCM School,was the state topper.

Her father Harjeet Singh runs makes cardboard boxes for a living and mother Devinder Kaur is a homemaker. Prabhjot has just received a letter of appreciation from Manpreet Singh Badal,Finance Minister of Punjab,in which he congratulated her and her parents.

“I am happy to receive the letter but what I really need is financial help so that I can fulfil my dream of becoming a fashion designer. I wanted to do a course from the National Institute of Fashion Technology but the fees were beyond my parents’ reach. So I plan to take admission in the BA course at Government College for Women,” said Prabhjot.

About being left out in the cold for the second consecutive year,principal Mehta had this to say: “I can only appeal to the Punjab government to give the announced award to Shilpi at the earliest and honour Prabhjot with one as well. This will help boost the morale of brilliant but needy children.”