Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A lack of coordination between departments and a last-minute change in eligibility criteria have put the implementation of the Mukhyamantri Protsahan Yojana in limbo, with meritorious Class 12 students likely to receive their scooty and laptops late.
For scooty despite districts submitting details of eligible students to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the data now has to be collected and submitted again after the state government changed the eligibility criteria.
Additionally, the students have also not received the money for the laptops due to the delayed process.
Districts did their job, government changed criteria later
Districts had been directed to submit the list of eligible students and all required details to DPI by July 31. The districts complied and submitted the data. However, the eligibility criteria were subsequently changed, making the earlier exercise largely redundant.
Under the revised rules, only students securing 70 per cent or more marks in Class 12 will be eligible for the Scooty Yojana. Earlier, students of government schools who secured 60 per cent marks but stood first in their school could also qualify for the scheme.
Ashok Badge, in-charge of the scooty distribution scheme, confirmed that the details had initially been called from the districts but had to be sought again after the criteria were changed. He said the fresh data was being collected to avoid any contradiction or discrepancy in the beneficiary list.
Details to be uploaded on the BEMS portal
The government has also mandated that complete details of eligible students, including bank account information, be entered on the Estimation and Monitoring System (BEMS) portal. While officials said a few districts have uploaded the data, schools in several rural areas are still completing the process.
Around 7,800 students benefit from the scheme every year. The government provides Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh to eligible students for purchasing an e-scooty or petrol scooty.
Data uploading of laptop scheme is also pending
Under the laptop scheme, around 1.21 lakh students who secured 75 per cent or more marks in the Class 12 board examinations will receive Rs 25,000 each for purchasing laptops.
The number is around 26,000 higher than last year's 94,500 beneficiaries. DPI officials said data from around 90 per cent of districts has been uploaded, while some schools in rural areas are yet to enter students' details, that's why they haven't started disbursing amount.
