By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
Garhwal Post Bureau
Nainital, 12 Sep: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard a public interest litigation (PIL) filed against the denial of benefits of the Nanda Gaura Yojana to eligible girl students who had passed Class 12 in the state. Hearing the case, the Division Bench of Chief Justice G Narendar and Justice Subhash Upadhyay questioned the State Women Empowerment Department and other departments concerned as to why the girl students had not yet been granted the benefit of the scheme.
The HC observed that the case relates to the academic session 2022–23 in a single district and asked how the higher education of these girl students would proceed in such circumstances. The Court stated that equal benefit of the scheme must be extended to all eligible students and directed the departments concerned to submit their report by next week.
It may be recalled that a social worker, Mamta Negi, a resident of Chamoli district, filed the public interest litigation before the High Court. In her petition, she stated that she had been engaged in social work for several years, her primary focus being to ensure that children from poor families reach schools. She said, that despite her efforts, these children were being deprived of government schemes meant for their welfare.
Mamta Negi submitted in the petition that, in her district, 439 girls had passed the Intermediate examination in the year 2022–23. As per the provisions of Nanda Gaura Yojana, they were to be given an incentive amount of Rs 51,000 each for pursuing higher education. Despite repeated requests to the administration, these girls had not been given the benefit of the scheme. She also pointed out that all the required documents had been duly completed and forwarded through schools to the department concerned in 2023. The department had also sought a fund allocation of Rs 2.45 crores from the government for disbursing the incentive, but the amount had not yet been released.
Mamta Negi further submitted that, if such an attitude of the government continued, the education of poor children would suffer greatly. Taking cognisance of the seriousness of the matter, the HC sought an explanation from the Women Empowerment and other related departments and directed them to present their reply by next week.
