Cash-strapped PMC spending Rs 15.3 crore to buy students smartphones?

The 7yearold Pune Municipal Corporation PMC scheme to give financial aid between Rs 15000 and Rs 25000 to students scoring above 80 marks in the SSC and HSC exams has led to civic officials and politicians crossing swordsBapu Karne PMC Standing Committee ChairmanWhile civic officials insist that the scheme which has seen its requirement burgeon to R153 crore this year should be restricted only to needy students and not to help fund luxuries politicians have attacked the PMC for trying to curtail a studentfriendly schemeThe financial aid scheme is incidentally the only scheme among 36 run by the corporations Urban Community Development UCD department which doesnt have an annual income limit barrierAs a result the beneficiaries of the scheme are consistently rising with 9500 students having applied for it after the board results were declared last yearMost of these students are however still waiting for their cheques as it took time to arrange funds say civic officials The model code of conduct in view of the Lok Sabha elections also delayed the scheme and students have only recently begun receiving cheques through ward officesStarted with a modest provision of Rs 23 crore in 200708 the schemes requirement has reached Rs 153 crore this year This when the PMCs 201415 budget is already facing a deficit of Rs 225 croreWheres the moneyThe financial provision for the scheme is just Rs 7 crore in PMCs 201415 budget which is not even half of the Rs 153 crore we are distributing currently So every year the civic body has to transfer funds from other schemes to make sure that every student who applied gets the aid Hanumant Nazirkar incharge UCD told middayMy department runs 36 schemes and except this one every other scheme has an annual income limit Most of the schemes have an income limit of R1 lakh per annum which ensures that the funds reach to people who actually need itOn the contrary in this financial aid scheme our observation is that 80 per cent of the beneficiaries are not facing any financial crunch but are still are waiting for this amount as a reward from the PMC he addedPMC standing committee chairman Bapu Karne has recently made it clear that he will not entertain proposals for transfer of funds as the civic body is already facing financial crunchRecently one parent came to me demanding the Rs 15000 cheque as his son had scored 83 per cent marks in SSC last year He said he was in a hurry as he had already promised his son that he would give him an expensive smartphone after receiving the cheque from the PMCThis shows that it is necessary to impose income limit to ensure crores of rupees get invested on needy students education and not on others luxuries Karne saidThe time has come to take a tough stand on the scheme Ideally it should only cover needy students who require this aid to help them pursue higher education he saidAsked what was stopping him Karne said Many corporators are opposing any restrictions on the scheme The administration even tabled a docket about the same last year which had not passed in the general body meetingBut this year we are going to restrict it Hence we deliberately reserved only Rs 7 crore in this years budget If the changes we have proposed go through this amount will be enoughRs 225crThe deficit in the PMCs 201415 budget