Bhubaneswar: Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) today gheraoed the residence of Higher Education Minister Pradeep Panigrahi here protesting the alleged irregularities in the distribution of scholarships.
During the protest, the activists face off with police personnel, following which the cops detained a a few of them. The ABVP demanded formation of a judicial inquiry commission to probe the scholarship scam and release of the audit report.
The protesters alleged that crores of rupees have been bungled from the funds meant for meritorious students in the state by Ministers, administrators and political leaders. ABVP State secretary Abhilash Panda said, "Over Rs 50 crore have been misappropriated from the scholarship fund meant for meritorious students in the state. Despite repeated demands by the ABVP, the state government is yet to establish a judicial commission to probe into the incident."
The activists warned that they would intensify the agitation in coming days until and unless the offenders are not arrested and the scholarships are not given to the eligible students.