EOW Arrests Retd OAS Officer In Rs 36 Lakh Scholarship Scam

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Thursday arrested Prakash Chandra Rath, a retired OAS officer, from his residence at Balianta in Bhubaneswar for alleged mismanagement and irregularities in the payment of scholarships.

He was in charge of the Higher Education Department’s scholarship section.

According to EOW sources, the department had reported financial mismanagement and irregularities in payment of e-Medhabruti (Scholarship) in 2014-15. Following this, a case was registered against Rath under Sections 409, 406 and 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2017.

During his tenure as the Under Secretary (Higher Education Department), Rath in connivance with others had sanctioned scholarships to the tune of Rs 36.10 lakh in favour of as many as 235 non-bonafide/non-eligible students “without getting any validation from the institutes/colleges concerned and also without placing the same before the Financial Advisor for sanction”.

According to government norms, students are required to apply for scholarships online on a dedicated government portal. The scholarship is granted only after detailed verification of the applications by institutes and colleges concerned, who then forwarded these to the state government.

“After receiving the applications of genuine students, the Under Secretary (Higher Education Department) needs to place these before the Financial Advisor for sanction of the scholarships. After the necessary sanction, the scholarship amount is then disbursed to the students. However, all such norms were violated by the accused,” EOW release said

As a result of the scam, the state exchequer had incurred losses to the tune of several lakhs of rupees, the released added.

Rath was forwarded to the court of SDJM, Bhubaneswar, after his arrest.