Bhubaneswar, May 4: The government plans to create a scholarship council to streamline the process of disbursing scholarships among the state's meritorious students following allegations of the money not reaching students and being siphoned off before distribution.

The higher education department also plans to use the Students' Academic Management System (Sams) portal to distribute the money to do away with fraud. The state disburses around Rs 100 crore in scholarships to school and college students through various schemes.

"There are several issues plaguing the disbursement. We have proposed several plans to streamline the process and to increase the amount in different categories," said higher education department principal secretary G.V.V. Sharma.

Sources said problems in transferring scholarship amounts from the Odisha Treasury Management System and timely disbursal were major problems. Besides, there were allegations of the role of middlemen in allocating the scholarships.

The proposed council will streamline and manage the process, from receipt of applications, selection, sanction and disbursal of all types of scholarship schemes to students from primary to postgraduate and research levels.

"The proposal to set up the council, which aims to check irregularities and timely payment of scholarships, has been pending with the government since October 2015. It is time for it to be set up," said a senior department official.

To make the process transparent, the department plans to use the Prerna and Medhabruti portals to distribute post-matric scholarships.

"Both ST/SC and higher education departments will work to reduce delays in distribution," Sharma said.