Following expiry of the five-day ultimatum served on technical education (TE) director Arjun Singh to resign, hundreds of students from various colleges in Kohima, under the banner of All Nagaland College Students’ Union (ANCSU) staged a protest outside the directorate here Friday, reiterating the demand.
Addressing the student protestors, ANCSU president Katho Awomi reiterated that ANCSU would not relent till the director T.E. resigned or reveal the names of corrupt officials involved in the scholarship scam.
Awomi demanded that those involved be punished and warned that unless the government responded positively, the situation would worsen.
He disclosed that in the letter written by the director TE to ANCSU, the official had admitted that the amount of Rs 1.32 crore, was temporarily adjusted for unforeseen expenditure on exigency ground from the scholarship savings. He said the amount had been fully recovered fully by depositing it back to the government account.
The ANCSU president alleged of variation in the amount and expressed surprise how it could happen. He referred to the letter of OSD & DDO of the directorate TE to senior treasury officer, Kohima (N) seeking refund/deposit of the cheque amounting to Rs 2.12 crore.
He said this was savings from 2013-14 onwards against the department’s account (no. 1041050017790) in United Bank of India, Kohima branch.
The amount was meant for the State’s technical scholarship, as per the directive of director TE, he added.
In response to the query filed by ANCSU under Right to Information Act demanding disclosure of names and details of the officials and staff who had taken loans(from scholarship), the amount of loans taken and recovered and the government document which allowed officials to take loans from scholarship grant, Awomi said the Public Information Officer replied “No record found”.
The ANCSU president remarked that it showed an illegal transaction on the part of the department in giving loan from the scholarship fund meant for students.
Earlier, during the dharna, students had put up a big banner near the directorate that read: “Give us the answer”. The agitating students also shouted slogans accusing- “Technical Education chor chor”, “Technical Education curse”, “Technical Education shameless people”, etc.