Tripura govt issues show-cause notices to 34 students who submitted fake docs to get scholarship

Agartala: The Tripura government has issued show cause notices to 34 ST students for submitting false income certificates to get post-matric scholarship, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Tribal Welfare Department director Subhasish Das said 35,665 ST students had applied for post matric scholarship through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) during the 2023-24 academic year.

A total of 34,436 students were granted scholarships amounting to Rs 68.13 crore, he said.

As a part of the scholarship, the government provides full college fees to eligible students to pursue different courses.

"...it has been revealed from the enquiries conducted by the competent administrative authorities that 34 ST students had applied for ST post-matric scholarship for the 2023-24 academic year through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP), uploading fake income certificates," the notice issued by Das said.

"The production of such fake income certificates to get scholarship grants constitutes misappropriation of public money, document forgery and defrauding the scholarship sanctioning authority, which amounts to a criminal offence," it said.

The 34 students were asked to show cause as to why FIR should not be lodged against them for submitting fake income certificates.

The replies to the notice should be sent to Das by April 16.