Early Times Report
srinagar, May 11: "The PMSSS has destroyed our career," says Sheikh Tariq, a student at the Shekhawati College of Pharmacy in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. He is one of the thousands of students from J&K who availed the Prime Minister's Special Scholarship Scheme or PMSSS for higher education outside the state.
The scheme was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in August, 2011, apparently to wean the youth away from militancy and separatism. The government had decided to offer 5,000 scholarships each year over the next five years for J&K students to pursue higher studies outside the state, and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was asked to implements the PMSSS. But it appears the PMSSS has done more harm than good.
From 2012 (when the scheme was put in place) to 2014, reports say scores of private universities reached out to students from J&K only to grab their grants, which range to Rs 3 lakh per student. And most of these institutions and universities were underdeveloped and not known for offering quality education.
In a Haryana college, for example, even fake bank accounts and e-mail IDs were opened in the name of 50 J&K students who had enrolled for BBA course. "The whole purpose was to grab the scholarship money supposed to be released in our favour," says a group of the students. Out of the 75 students studying in three different courses at the institution, 60 are from the Valley. They describe the college as underdeveloped. "Five to seven students have to share a single room in the hostel. In fact, many students are lodged in the vacant classrooms of the college because there is shortage of space in the hostels."
In fact, last year nearly 35 J&K students in Bangalore Technological Institute (BTI) went on a strike demanding return of their certificates or a written assurance from the college that they won't have to pay for the course. "This place is a mess. Besides, the college authorities are demanding fees from us, notwithstanding the promise of free education under the PMSSS they made at the time of admission," says Yasir Ahmad Shah, a resident of Kupwara.
"The BTI is located in a remote area of the city. In Srinagar, at the time of admissions, we were shown photos of a five-storey building, but no such structure exists on the ground. There are no laboratories, no equipment," says another student Ibrahim Shah who had left his B Sc to pursue B Tech after principal of the BTI came to Srinagar where he met him and other students and handed over a confirmation letter.
"I thought why shall I waste money when I am offered a free education? Who wouldn't have availed that tempting offer," asks Shah, a resident of Srinagar. His colleague Tanvir Ahmad says, "I reached here through an NGO . They promised me free quality education in this college. And here I am now cursing myself."
After the media highlighted how the students have had been duped, the AICTE decided to grant provisional admission to the students through its own counseling. Private universities were kept out. Also, for the academic session 2014-15, the AICTE restricted the number of students to two intakes per college. Later in September 2014, the AICTE in its counseling session allocated colleges to 2102 students on the basis of the marks they scored in Class 12.
These measures, however, proved insufficient. For instance, Priya Chib, a resident of Jammu who had scored 94% marks in Class 12, was contacted by an NGO which directed her to seek admission in the Azamgarh Dental College and Hospital under the PMSSS. "Once in Azamgarh, I was told that the AICTE would conduct counselling sessions and allot provisional admissions. I came back to Srinagar, went for counselling and was allotted Maitreyi College. Once there, however, the authorities refused to honour the AICTE letter, saying that they were not aware of any such scheme," Chib had told a Delhi-based newspaper in November last year.
Also, many Delhi University colleges refused to admit the students, citing no information regarding the PMSSS. About 100 students who were asked to join DU colleges complained they hadn't received any help despite doing the rounds of the offices of the DU vice-chancellor, University Grants Commission and AICTE. When asked by Gopalakrishnan Chinnaraj, an AIADMK MP, why any scholarship-winning student from J&K had not been admitted to DU colleges, HRD minister Smriti Irani had told the parliament in its last winter session that the ministry had no data. Irani's response to the question in parliament was that the DU "has reported that the (PMSSS) has not been dealt by the university. However, college related information, if any, is not available/maintained in a consolidated manner by the University."
J&K's education minister and chief spokesman of the ruling PDP, Naeem Akhtar admits the flaws in PMSSS's implementation. He says that the students were duped by some NGOs who promised them scholarships without taking into consideration the terms and conditions of the scheme notified in the guidelines for its implementation. He says the HRD ministry has released Rs. 25 crore to AICTE for renewal of scholarship this year.
Meanwhile, on April 3, the J&K high court issued notice to government of India and authorities of a college in Haryana for barring three Kashmiri students from pursuing their BBA studies under the PMSSS. The trio studying in Delhi Technical Campus (DTC), Bahadurgarh, had completed five out of the six semesters but were not allowed into the sixth semester unless they bear Rs 28000 apart from 1.20 lakhs paid by the government of India. The court directed the college to allow the students to pursue their studies as well as permit them to participate in examinations till further orders.
Some colleges where J&K students are studying under the PMSSS Mahatma Gandhi Nursing College (Sikar, Rajasthan), Swami Keshawanand College of Nursing (Sikar), HR Institute of Technology (Ghaziabad), Ganga Technical Campus (Bahardurgarh, Haryana), Ganga Group of Colleges (Haryana), Shekhawati College of Pharmacy (Dundlod, Rajasthan), Shree Ram College of Nursing (Jaipur), RP Inderprastha Institute of Technology (Karnal), Delhi College of Technology and Management (Haryana), Shri Krishna Institute of Medical Health Sciences and Research Nursing College (Jaipur), BM College of Technology and Management (Haryana), Ram Krishna College of Nursing (Madhya Pradesh), Alwar College of Pharmacy (Alwar Rajasthan), SS College of Engineering (Udaipur Rajasthan), Swift College of Pharmacy (Patiala, Punjab), VIT College (Meerut, UP), Rawal Institute (Faridabad), IIPS College of Pharmacy (Lucknow, UP), Darshan Dental College (Udaipur, Rajasthan), Dashmesh College of Physiotherapy (Faridkot), and Dashmesh College of Nursing (Faridkot). |
