Handicapped student fights red tape for MBA refund

Pritam Bansod (26) has been trying unsuccessfully since 2006 to convince the Maharashtra government to refund the Rs 1 lakh he paid as fees for his MBA degree.

Bansod, who is physically handicapped, says that he deserves the money under a government resolution (egd/2003/prk/71) on the subject dated November 15, 2003. The said resolution allows physically challenged students enrolled for any course governed by the Directorate of Technical Education to get their fees reimbursed from the state government's department of welfare.u00a0u00a0u00a0



Bansod met the commissioner for the handicapped, and filed a suit in the Lok Adalat (1164/2008/table no 12), last year. "Neither yielded results. So, I filed an application under the Right to Information Act in 2007 and sought to know how many physically challenged students like me were studying in the state and how the government intended to refund the fees in accordance with the resolution," said Bansod.

"I as well as another physically-challenged friend who had applied for similar information learnt that the social welfare department has not been following mentioned procedures on fee refunds," Bansod said.

Bansod's efforts took a positive turn in February after he met M H Sawant, the commissioner of the social welfare department. Sawant issued an order dated February 19 that directs officials to release money owed to Bansod. "The order was a step in the right direction, but the social welfare officials continue to withhold my money under one pretext or the other," he said.

Wait till June
P S Kaute, social welfare officer at the Zilla Parishad, said they would clear Bansod's dues by June. "We spent Rs 40 lakh on election-related work recently. We should be able to pay him by June," said Kaute.

Gangadhar Gosawi, the assistant registrar, Lok Adalat, explained, "Pritam Bansod knows everything.

He has come here several times. We have explained the rules to him. I can't share more information with you."