Kerala High Court Directs State To Implement Its Monthly Scholarship Scheme For Disabled Children; Highlights Indifference Of Officers

The Kerala High Court has asked the State government to scrupulously implement its 2015 policy for persons with disabilities under which it had announced a Scheme for distribution of monthly scholarships to eligible students.The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S. Manu also flagged the 'reluctance and apathy' of ground-level officers in implementing the Scheme and directed the State to take deterrent and punitive action against those found in default, including the Secretaries of the Local Self Government Institutions. It observed,"The benevolent policy of the State, extending assistance to eligible students, cannot be allowed to be defeated by the reluctance and apathy of ground-level implementation officers. The State is also duty bound to ensure implementation of its own policies and take deterrent action for the failure. Thus, it is necessary to direct the State to ensure strict compliance with the Government Circulars and provide for consequences, place responsibilities, and take disciplinary action. The LSGIs are required to be held responsible for the timely disbursal of scholarships and allowances."Court said that the Scheme does not require filing of any applications and it should be ensured that no eligible student is denied the benefits due to the inaction or oversight by the implementing officers.It also called for "transparency in implementation" by periodical verification and updating the lists of eligible students and financial disbursements on official website."A mechanism has to be put in place to identify and rectify instances of non-compliance by Panchayats, so that failures in implementation can be immediately addressed," the Court added and issued a slew of directions in this regard.It also directed the appointment of nodal officers at State and District-level to ensure that the directions of the Government regarding the scheme is complied with. The eligible students who are not receiving the scholarship can approach the district-level nodal officer for grievance redressal.On 22 September 2015, the State had formulated a policy to address the issues faced by persons with disabilities. One of the schemes in this policy was to give monthly scholarship to disabled children. The instant petition was filed before the High Court highlighting the non-disbursal of this scholarship.The scholarship was a part of the State's 13th Five-Year Plan and is now included in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2022-2027) as well. As per a Circular issued by the Government in January 2025, the scholarship is to be given to children having 40% or more mental/ physical disability.However, the Court noted that the State did not even have data of the students who were granted the scholarship in the last 12 months. Further, it was submitted by the State that the project is not fully implemented by the LSGIs and there are many cases of failure at the ground level.As per the scheme, eligible children need not apply for the scholarship. The list of eligible children will be prepared by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) annually. Input is taken from Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Group, Anganwadi workers, Asha workers and further verification can be done through appropriate means. However, if any child is left out, they can make a request and ICDS can include them in the list after verification. The beneficiary list has to be published on the website of the LSGI. The details of the beneficiaries and the expenditure have to be uploaded on the software 'Sulekha'.Case No: WP(C) 9961 of 2019Case Title: Martin Paul v State of Kerala and AnotherCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 222 Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Kerala High Court Directs State To Implement Its Monthly Scholarship Scheme For Disabled Children; Highlights Indifference Of Officers

Manju Elsa Isac

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