Around 60 dalit students from Bihar studying at Rajdhani Engineering College in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, were forced to leave the college and hostel after the state government failed to pay their stipend.
Around 60 dalit students from Bihar studying at Rajdhani Engineering College in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, were forced to leave the college and hostel after the state government failed to pay their stipend. While some of the students have returned, others are said to be on their way back.
Though the allegations were denied by the state government, but the students claimed that “stipends were not paid despite repeated requests from the institution”. The students created a flutter within political circles on Tuesday when they threatened to commit mass suicide if the government failed to pay the amount due to the institution.
“We are solely dependent on the stipend. The college has refused us entry and wants us to pay our fees. We have nowhere else to go, we see a dark future ahead of us,” one of the students said.
These students belong to Champaran district of the state and had taken admission in the college in 2014 under the dalit stipend scheme of the Bihar government. According to the students, who returned from Bhubaneswar, the college took care of all their expenses, including boarding, lodging and education, but after a year the institution asked them to pay them the amount due.
The state government pays Rs 1,10,000 to each student annually. SC/ST minister Santosh Niral, while denying all allegations, blamed the students for providing the wrong account number. He said, “The government tried to deposit the payment but the account provided by the students was wrong.”
Bihar deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav has assured all help to the students and advised them not to take any drastic step.
“I will discuss the matter with the officials but I want the students to stay calm,” he said.
