India, Aug. 17 -- Weeks after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) slammed the state government over irregularities in government-funded hostels for Scheduled Caste students, the Maharashtra government has terminated the licences of 11 such hostels. The state has also launched a drive to inspect all aided and government-run hostels, with committees headed by the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the respective zilla parishads conducting inspections in each district.

In its report, tabled in the state legislature on July 10-the last day of the monsoon session-the CAG had rapped the social justice department over serious irregularities in the functioning of aided hostels. The audit covered 21 of the 2,388 aided hostels run by NGOs an...