After chief minister Devendra Fadnavis sought information from minister for social justice Rajkumar Badole about his daughter scholarship, on Thursday his daughter Shruti has returned the scholarship.

She was to undertake a three-year PhD course in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, UK. However, wards of two bureaucrats have decided against returning the scholarship.

The selection of Shruti and children of two top bureaucrats as beneficiaries of the government scholarship for pursuing higher education abroad created a controversy on Wednesday after media reports raised doubts on the transparency in the selection process. As per a government resolution (GR) dated September 4, Shruti is one of the 35 students selected for the scholarship.

Children of some top bureaucrats, including son of Dinesh Waghmare, Secretary, Social Justice, Antariksh and Dayanand, son of Samir Meshram, Joint Director, Directorate of Technical Education, feature on the list.

While several doubts have been raised over the selection which has an income cap of Rs 6 lakh per annum, the state government in its official press release said there was no violation of norms or favoritism.

"As per the norms, if a student gets admission into a university ranked between 1-100 as per the QS rankings, the income cap for such students can be waived off. The selection process has taken place as per the norms," it states.

Badole on Wednesday had said that he was ready to face inquiry as the due process was followed.

Waghmare confirmed that Shruti, in an email to Chief Secretary Sumit Mallick, in-charge of the selection committee, returned the scholarship. When asked if his son would do the same, he said, "My son is not going to refuse the scholarship, as he is eligible for it."

Meshram also took a similar stance. "My son had applied for the scholarship and only he can decide what to do with it. We have not flouted any norms. The scholarship was awarded on merit."

AT A GLANCE