MUMBAI: Daughter of Maharashtra social justice minister Rajkumar Badole and sons of two high ranking bureaucrats are beneficiaries of foreign scholarships given by the department.
The list of 35 beneficiaries of the scholarships for scheduled caste students who aspire to pursue higher education at foreign institutions was released by the department on Tuesday. Badole’s daughter Shruti’s name is on the list.
According to the government resolution in this regard, Shruti got the scholarship to pursue three-year Ph.D. course in Astronomy and Astrophysics at Manchester University in UK. Along with her, names of Sameer Meshram and Antriksh Waghmare, too, were on the list. While Antriksh’s father Dinesh is Secretary of the Higher and technical education department, Sameer’’s father Dayanand is deputy secretary of higher education.
The scholarship includes one-time air fare, educational fees and accommodation expenses.
Badole, who is BJP minister from Vidarbha, tried to distance himself from the controversy saying that his daughter was selected for the scholarship based on merit. He also added that the family had not yet made up its mind whether to avail the benefit of the scheme.
“I’ve already informed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis about Shruti’s name being on the list,” Badole said but didn’t divulge any further details. Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, however, said that the case exposes the duality in policies of the BJP government.
“The government has put in several conditions to be eligible for crop loan waiver saying that it wants the benefits to reach to real needy farmers.
While several low-ranking officials from government and semi-government services have been excluded from the benefits, ministers and high ranking officials are being allowed to avail benefits of the government scheme. This is unjust and the chief minister needs to furnish an explanation,” Sawant said while speaking to the New Indian Express.