Jammu, May 26: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Jammu has registered a case against several persons, including former Director Tribal Affairs J&K, M S Choudhary (now retired), for alleged serious misconduct and misuse of funds related to the Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme for Scheduled Tribe (ST) students.
The ACB Jammu, in a statement issued here, said it has registered FIR No. 09/2025 under sections 5(1)(c)(d), 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006, and section 120-B of RPC, at P/S ACB Jammu.
The accused include representatives and owners of multiple private institutes across Jammu, such as Shanaz Akhtar Malik of Catalog Computers, Humera Banu and Firdous Ahmed of Chirag Institute of IT, Sham Lal Targotra of JKS-Industrial Training Institute, Jaffer Hussain Wani of Evergreen Institute of Computer Technology, Parshotam Bharadwaj of Global Institute of IT, Ramneek Kour of Pankaj Memorial Charitable Trust, Puneet Mahajan of Supertech (India) Computer Education and others.
The case was registered following a detailed verification that uncovered large-scale irregularities in the implementation of the scheme, which is aimed at providing financial assistance to ST students to complete their post-matric education, the ACB said.
The investigation revealed that during the period from 2014 to 2018, several government officials and private institutes engaged in misconduct by disbursing crores of rupees to unrecognised institutes offering unapproved courses under the scheme.
The Post Matric Scholarship (PMS) scheme aims to assist ST students in completing their education by providing financial aid—Rs 18,000 per student plus Rs 2,300 maintenance allowance—and reimbursement of fees charged by recognised institutions.
Private institutes in Jammu managed documents of ST students from remote areas and submitted these to the Directorate of Tribal Affairs without verifying the genuineness of the institutes, their infrastructure, or the authenticity of the courses offered, the probe agency said.
It added that the officials in the Tribal Affairs Department, without proper checks, disbursed crores of rupees directly into the bank accounts of these institutes during 2014-2018, without ensuring the students’ actual attendance or course completion.
Investigations revealed that many students listed in the scholarship records neither sought admission nor attended the courses. Some students who did seek admission attended partially or not at all, yet full scholarship amounts were credited to the institutions.
Certain institutes manipulated documents by creating fake bank accounts, filling scholarship forms on behalf of students from far-flung areas without their knowledge or consent, and submitting falsified records, the investigation revealed, adding that several institutes lacked proper accreditation with NIELIT, yet funds were disbursed to them regardless of compliance with scheme guidelines.
This blatant abuse of official positions and criminal conspiracy by the officers of the Tribal Affairs Department, in collusion with institute owners and beneficiaries, led to the misappropriation of government funds worth crores of rupees, the anti-corruption body said, adding that this misconduct caused significant financial loss to the government exchequer.
The investigation is ongoing, and further action is expected based on the findings, the ACB said.
