Jahangirnagar University authorities have allegedly embezzled scholarship money for nearly 300 students, deprived students said and officials confirmed New Age on Thursday.
The office of the registrar has collected nearly Tk 16 lakh from the exchequer against the 300 students but did not hand over it to the scholarship-winners during the fiscal years between 2005-06 and 2011-12.
The number of total scholarship winners during the period could not be established but it was learnt that some students other than the 300 had received the scholarship money during the period.
The education ministry rules require that the university authorities must refund the money to the exchequer
if it remains undisbursed by the end of every fiscal year, but New Age found that the registrar’s office did not do so.
On the basis of brilliant results in higher secondary and equivalent exams, all the education boards prepare the list of merit for selecting the scholarship-winners and publishes a gazette every year. A copy of the gazette is sent to the university authorities and scholarship-winners submit application to the registrar for collecting money from the exchequer. A scholarship-winner enjoys the financial help for up to five years.
‘I had submitted my application to the registrar for my scholarship money in 2007. I knew that the office had collected the money from the government fund but did not handed over my scholarship money. I was told that no money was released for me from the government though I was a scholarship-winner,’ said Zannatul Ferdous [not her real name], a former English department student of the university.
However, two of her classmates received the money, said Zannat.
Abu Bakr Siddique, registrar of the university admitted to New Age that the authorities had received the money from the exchequer and it was now in the university fund.
‘As a residential university, such notices were supposed to be posted on the notice board of the halls but it was not done. Besides, some students were callous about taking the money,’ he defended.
He declined to pass comment when asked why the money was not refunded to the exchequer.
An education ministry official said that it was a punishable offence and necessary action should be taken against the culprits if the allegation of misappropriation is found to be true.
Courtesy of New Age
