MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court advised the State government that applications for availing of assistance under the Dr Ambedkar Scheme for Social Integration through Inter-Caste Marriages should be disposed of expeditiously and that pendency of such applications would defeat the very purpose of the scheme.
Justice GR Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by one T Murugesh whose application for an assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh under the scheme has been kept pending since 2017, alleging some lacunae in documentation.
The judge noted that the Director of Dr Ambedkar Foundation of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is ready to process Murugesh's application but they are yet to receive the community certificates of the couple from the Ramanathapuram district collector.
Recording the submissions of the government counsels that the community certificate would be furnished forthwith and that the application would be processed in a month, the judge disposed of the petition.
However, the judge expressed concern that if applications submitted under the scheme are kept pending without being processed then the very purpose of the scheme would be defeated. "I hope that such delays in processing the papers will not happen in the future," he said.