Kochi: The Kerala High Court has asked the state government to strictly implement its 2015 policy for persons with disabilities, under which a Scheme was announced for the distribution of monthly scholarships to eligible students.

The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu, flagged the 'reluctance and apathy' of ground-level officers and asked the state to take punitive action against them, including Secretaries of the Local Self-Government Institutions.

The Court observed that the Scheme does not require the 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 the official website.

Eligible students who are not receiving the scholarship can approach the district-level nodal officer for grievance redressal.

On 22 September 2015, the State formulated a policy to address the issues faced by persons with disabilities. One scheme in this policy was to give monthly scholarships 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 on 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.

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) will prepare the list of eligible children annually. Input is taken from Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Group, Anganwadi workers, and 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 must be published on the LSGI website. The details of the beneficiaries and the expenditures must be uploaded to the Sulekha software.
(With LiveLaws inputs)