11 tribal students get financial aid after abandoned applications spark outcry in Palakkad

Kollengode (Palakkad): Eleven tribal students, whose applications for financial assistance were found abandoned in bushes, have finally received justice. On Friday, the Directorate of Scheduled Tribes Development approved funds for the long-delayed applications.

A total of ₹45,000 has been sanctioned, and the funds will be disbursed to students for their SSLC and Plus Two exams, depending on their grades, confirmed the District Tribal Development Officer, M Shameena.

Thirteen applications were found at an isolated location near the Yakkara River Bridge and eleven among them were eligible for assistance. The matter came to light after Malayala Manorama published a series of reports on this episode.

The abandoned forms comprised requests for financial assistance from children in Kariyarkutti, Kadavu and the Earth Dam settlements in Parambikulam, a tribal area within the Muthalamada Panchayat, as well as tribal students from Chemmanampathy and Mangalam Dam in Vandazhi Panchayat.

The funds were sanctioned after the pending applications were expedited and formally handed over to the Scheduled Tribes Development Department.

It was a team of KSEB officials, on duty at the time, who first found the discarded applications. They returned them to the applicants' parents, who then submitted them to the Palakkad District Collector. The documents were immediately forwarded to the District Tribal Welfare Officer for action.

Investigations revealed that although the applications, submitted by parents through ST promoters, had reached the Kollengode Tribal Extension Office, the responsible official failed to process them. In a bid to cover up the lapse, the applications were later dumped in an isolated location.

Meanwhile, it remains uncertain whether any action will be taken against the temporary employee responsible for this act, as the person has already completed his contract term in the office.