Jalandhar, Jan. 31 -- Ahead of Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 1, the Punjab government on Friday launched the distribution of scholarships to more than 2.7 lakh Scheduled Caste (SC) students in a state-level function held at the PAP Ground in Jalandhar. Addressing the gathering, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said the Rs.271-crore Post-Matric Scholarship under the "Mission Rangla Punjab" drive reflected a fundamental shift in governance priorities, asserting that while the Congress, the Akalis and the BJP remained preoccupied with family interests, the AAP had focused squarely on securing the future of Punjab's children. Highlighting a 35% rise in beneficiaries since 2020-21, the chief minister said the surge was the result of AAP government's genuine education reforms, not tokenism, and stressed that scholarships were not mere financial aid but a tool of self-reliance, correcting years of systemic neglect in which delayed and diverted funds had even prevented students from appearing in examinations. He added that the budget had been enhanced from Rs.245 crore to Rs.271 crore, underlining that it was the Punjab government's duty to ensure the well-being of every section of society. "For the first time, bio-authentication has been made mandatory for students, heads of institutions and nodal officers to prevent fraud," he said. Mann alleged that the whole scheme turned from "scheme" to "scam" during the Congress regime and the AAP government had managed to restore the scheme for the sake of the future of thousands of SC students in these years. Later in Mohali, the CM distributed appointment letters to 916 newly recruited persons in various departments under the state government's flagship programme "Mission Rozgar". Addressing a gathering at Vikas Bhawan, Mann said so far, 63,943 youths had been provided government jobs on the basis of merit alone, without bribery or favouritism, and the process of issuing appointment letters would continue in the coming days. "This government has opened the doors of government jobs for the youth in a transparent manner," he said. Cabinet ministers Dr Balbir Singh and Gurmeet Singh Khudian, along with senior officials, were present on the occasion....