Senior Congress Leader and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson K C Venugopal has moved a privilege motion against the chief secretaries of six states, including Karnataka, for failing to appear before the panel examining irregularities in scholarship schemes for Scheduled Caste students.
On October 22, In an letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Venugopal sought action against the chief secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, saying the committee unanimously viewed their absence as a breach of parliamentary privilege.
“I am constrained to state that none of the Chief Secretaries appeared before the Committee despite exemptions not being granted in complete disregard of their accountability to the Parliament,” he wrote.
Venugopal also sought action against the social welfare department secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha for failing to appear before the committee.
The panel is examining the implementation of pre-matric and post-matric scholarship schemes for SC students, based on findings in a 2025 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report. Its scrutiny covers scheme implementation, beneficiary verification, and scholarship disbursement at the state level.
Venugopal said all members present unanimously took serious note of the chief secretaries’ absence and felt it amounted to a breach of parliamentary privilege.
The decision to summon the officials followed concerns identified during the committee’s study visit to Jaipur in September. These included delays in bringing states onto the National Scholarship Portal, gaps in coordination between the Centre and states, and problems with scholarship disbursement.
Since state governments implement the schemes, the committee considered it essential to examine other states and their welfare departments on the audit findings, Venugopal said. The Speaker had permitted the panel to obtain written information and take oral evidence from state government representatives.
Communications issued on October 8 and 9 directed the six chief secretaries to appear along with officials of the departments responsible for implementing the schemes.
Although none of the chief secretaries attended, Karnataka and Punjab’s social welfare secretaries and Bihar’s education secretary appeared and gave evidence alongside representatives of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the letter said.
A secretary from Madhya Pradesh arrived at 2 pm, as per the sitting’s original schedule. The committee decided to call the state’s representatives again at a later date, the letter said.
Venugopal urged Birla to ensure appropriate action against the six chief secretaries and the social welfare secretaries of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha for failing to appear and thereby violating the committee’s privileges.
