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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ordered a thorough investigation into alleged irregularities in the post-matric scholarship scheme that surfaced during the previous Congress regime on Wednesday. Mann announced his decision on Twitter. "I received documents pertaining to the release of the scholarship amount during the previous administration. Irregularities in the release of funds to private institutions have been discovered, and an investigation has been launched "Mann stated in a tweet. "Every single penny will be counted," Mann said. The alleged multi-crore post-matric scholarship scam surfaced in 2020, following a report by the then-additional chief secretary that discovered Rs 55.71 crore in misappropriation. The report also questioned Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, the then-social justice minister, for allegedly shielding those involved in the scam. The then-chief minister, Amarinder Singh, then directed the then-state chief secretary to conduct an extensive investigation. Dharamsot had been exonerated in the chief secretary's report, which was based on the findings of a three-member panel of IAS officers. Dharamsot, who held the portfolio of forest ministers in the previous government, was arrested last month by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in a corruption case involving tree felling. Dharamsot is currently in judicial remand. The scholarship scam had provided the opposition with enough ammunition to target the Amarinder Singh-led government. When the AAP was in opposition, it held state-wide protests over the issue and demanded that a case be filed against Dharamsot.