Badole's daughter Shruti badole was granted Maharashtra government's scholarship meant for Schedule Tribe students to pursue a PHD at Manchester university in UK

Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Rajkumar Badole has come under the scanner for misusing his position to secure scholarship for his daughter.

Badole's daughter Shruti badole was granted Maharashtra government's scholarship meant for Schedule Tribe students to pursue a PHD at Manchester university in UK. The scholarship is meant for ST students whose parents' income is less than 6 lakh rupees per year.

The son of secretary of social justice department has also been awarded a scholarship.

Questions are now being raised on Badole's daughter being given the scholarship granted by his own ministry. According to the cabinet minister, his daughter has an excellent educational record and has been elected as per merit. Badole added that income criteria for grant of the scholarship did not apply to those students who had secured admission in top 100 universities across the world.

He clarified that he and his secretary both detach themselves from the process of selection and a committee under chief secretary was responsible for selecting the students eligible for the scholarship.

Opposition Congress has alleged that the incident is a clear case of misusing ministerial power and has demanded an inquiry. This is not the first time that a minister in Devendra Fadnavis government has faced charges of misusing their position.

Two years back, senior minister Eknath Khadse had to resign for misusing his power as minister to buy land belonging to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

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