Tura MDC and Bharatiya Janata Party state vice-president Bernard N Marak, in a petition to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, has raised the scholarship difficulties faced by the Scheduled Tribe students in Meghalaya.
Marak said in the letter that the ST students are facing immense difficulty in applying for scholarships as they are asked to get the income certificate and affidavit from the state authorities instead of the autonomous district councils.
He said that the income certificate and affidavits issued by the ADCs should be accepted for the ST students rather than the documents issued by the state officials.
Marak also said that the students have complained that their scholarship dues are pending since last year. “In this context, I would like to request you to kindly look into this matter with urgency, acknowledging the constitutional facts and the grievances faced by the ST students. It would be appreciated if you can reply to me at the earliest assuring me that the documents like income certificates, affidavits, etc issued by the MDCs/ADCs for the ST students who are applying for scholarships would be accepted as doubt of being rejected clouds over our students.”