73 meritorious students may have to wait longer for their Rs 51k scholarship

In the 28 PMC high schools of the city the number of SSC students scoring above 85 per cent has increased to 73 from 45 last year These meritorious students are now eligible for the R51000 scholarship under the scheme started by the civic body in 2012Standing committee chairman Bapu Karne said that he will take a review of the development work and decide where the funds can be transferred to ensure all 73 students receive their scholarship File PicAlmost a month has passed since the SSC results were declared but the corporation has not handed out the money yet midday found out that while the required funds is R3723 lakh the PMC had set aside only R255 lakh in this yearrsquos budget The administration is still trying to get approvals for the additional funds and it seems that the students would not receive money before their junior college starts on July 15The PMCrsquos education department secondary had started the Sharadabai PawarScholarship Scheme after NCP chief Sharad Pawarrsquos mother The aim of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to meritorious students in civic schools However even last year the implementation was delayed and students received their cheques by January 2014 seven months after the results were declaredldquoWe are still in the process of compiling names of students eligible for scholarship under the scheme from the respective school principals I will send the proposal to PMC next weekrdquo said Meenakshi Raut PMC education officer secondary adding ldquoThe budgetary allocation for this scheme was R225 lakh which was fixed based on last yearrsquos 45student figure However this year the number jumped to 73 and the standing committee now has to arrange for additional fundsrdquoWhen midday contacted the standing committee chairman Bapu Karne he said ldquoWersquoll see how we can arrange for the additional R15 lakh to implement the scheme this year We will take a review of the development work and decide where the funds can be transferred to ensure all 73 students receive their scholarshiprdquoMeanwhile the Std XIrsquos centralised admission procedure CAP is almost complete and junior colleges are set to start on July 15 So if any of the families of the 73 students were waiting for the civic bodyrsquos scholarship money it will be better for them to make alternate arrangements for the fees of their kidsldquoLast year the scheme was delayed as well If the PMC really wants to help all these meritorious students then they should distribute the money on time The assembly elections are only a couple of months away Therefore the standing committee has to approve the additional funds on urgent basis so that its implementation does not get stuck before the code of conduct is imposedrdquo said an official on the condition of anonymityFrom Karmveer Bhaurao Patil Vidyaniketan School as many as eight students have scored above 85 per cent marks in SSC exams this year ldquoIt would help the students and their families if they receive their cheques as early as possible to decide which course they want to pursue I have already sent names and academic records of these students to the corporationrsquos education departmentrdquo informed Veer Kesu principal of the schoolAchieving success despite all oddsldquoMany students took inspiration from last yearrsquos batch after we had called all 2500 students of Std X in the prize distribution ceremony where the 45 students got their scholarship On the other side the teachers also worked hard to make sure their schools achieve good resultsrdquo said Raut