Biometric authentication delay: Thousands of K'taka SC students might lose post-matric scholarship
Bengaluru: Delay in biometric authentication by college empowerment officers is proving costly for thousands of Scheduled Caste (SC) students pursuing higher education in the state as the students are in danger of losing their Central government-sponsored post-matriculation scholarship.
Students with an annual family income not exceeding Rs 2.50 lakh are eligible for the post-matric scholarship. Although most students have completed their biometric authentication, the delay by the officers is likely to impact the release of the funds, forcing the Social Welfare Department to remind the Commissioner of Collegiate Education to disburse the scholarship, according to a Deccan Herald report.
The state has a total of 15, 816 private and government colleges and the authentication process has been completed in 9,875 colleges, while the empowerment officers in 5,941 colleges are yet to complete the process. Bengaluru Urban tops the list of pending cases with 1,555 colleges, followed by Kalaburagi (543), Dharwad (368), Belagavi (306), and Vijayapura (269).
A senior officer of the Social Welfare Department explained that the centrally-sponsored scholarship is split 60:40 between the Centre and the state. Biometric authentication is mandatory for both students and the empowerment officer and that if either fails, the scholarship is denied to the student.
The officer further explained that the biometric authentication of a nodal cum empowerment officer of the college is mandatory. The empowerment officer has to visit the nearest taluk-level office of the Social Welfare Department and provide the AISHE code of the college, an authentication certificate from the principal, and their Aadhaar number to complete the authentication process. The Commissioner of Collegiate Education has been requested to instruct the college principals concerned accordingly, the senior officer added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
