The Haryana Higher Education Department has come under the scanner after an internal audit report detailed a massive embezzlement of funds meant for underprivileged students. The scam, totaling approximately ₹10 crore, involves systemic manipulation of the scholarship portal and student records.
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Modus Operandi: The audit highlighted that the colleges prepared fake scholarship lists for the academic years between 2014 and 2018. Out of the thousands of students for whom funds were claimed, the audit found that 2,549 students were not even registered with the respective universities.
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Caste Categorization Fraud: In a blatant violation of rules, 304 students belonging to the General category were listed as SC/OBC to illegally secure scholarship benefits. Furthermore, the courses mentioned in the college records for 550 other students did not match university data.
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Cover-up Attempt: Tensions rose as the audit revealed that a “suspicious” fire incident had occurred at one of the institutions while the audit team was actively searching for records. Authorities suspect the fire was a pre-planned attempt to destroy incriminating evidence and ledger books.
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Action Taken: Based on the audit and a follow-up investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the department has recommended the registration of FIRs against the college chairpersons and managing directors. The state is also looking into the role of officials in the Directorate of Higher Education who failed to verify the university registration data before releasing the payments.
