State dallies, students suffer

Laxman Sawalkar and Bhairavi Jadhav, both belonging to SC/ST and economically backward category who have been selected in foreign universities on their merit are however facing a hazy future due to the delay on the part of the state government to release the funds.

Laxman Sawalkar and Bhairavi Jadhav, both belonging to SC/ST and economically backward category who have been selected in foreign universities on their merit are however facing a hazy future due to the delay on the part of the state government to release the funds.

After the two students complained of hitches in the state government scheme that gives scholarship to 25 students to study abroad, D S Wankhede, joint director, Pune division social welfare department said that there is enough scope for improvement. He also said that the department would soon forward its suggestions to the state to modify the scheme.

Laxman is a farmer8217;s son hailing from Osmanabad was admitted for food business management from the Robert Gordon University in Scotland. He completed his entire education on government scholarship. 8220;I got a scholarship to study in the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya that is run by the Central Board of Secondary Education and later to study B.Sc in agricultural biotechnology from Raipur,8221; he said. Similarly, Bhairavi, whose father is a labourer from Latur, completed her BA English from Yashwantrao Mohite College. 8220;I have been admitted for master in business administration in University of Wales Institute, Cardiff in UK,8221; she said.

After calling for application for the scholarship, the social welfare department was supposed to release the list of eligible candidates in September 2008. However, as the advertisement for delayed by two months, consequently, the list was delayed by two months as well and was released on November 04, 2008. This forced them to give their revised application for the January admissions.

In another rude shock from the government8217;s side, the duo was first asked to pay part of the fees by themselves, while the government would transfer the remaining money directly to the university. 8220;If we could afford to do so, why would we apply for the scholarship?8221; they questioned. And now that the process is delayed by two months, both

While Bhairavi has been allowed to join course by January 26, Laxman had to apply for another university and has been admitted to the University of Greenwich, London. The students will not only lose one academic year if they fail to get the scholarship before January 10, but also lose their spirit to study further.

The students have been planning to go on a hunger strike from Wednesday, January 7. However, E Z Khobragade, director of pune divisional social welfare department has assured that the department will take up their case with the ministry as a special case and ensure that the students will not face convenience. Wankhede said that the decision will be taken by Monday and the department will try to push the students8217; case.