New Delhi:
The Bihar Education Department has dismissed 3,035 government school teachers who allegedly secured their jobs using forged documents. According to a Dainik Bhaskar report, the state government has also decided to recover nearly Rs 1,400 crore, along with interest, paid to these teachers as salaries over the years.
The action follows a thorough investigation that uncovered widespread irregularities in teacher recruitment carried out through local bodies between 2006 and 2015. The scam came to light after the Patna High Court directed the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) to probe the appointments.
According to the report, the dismissed teachers allegedly submitted forged caste, Aadhaar, age, disability, and educational certificates to obtain government jobs. Investigators also found that several teachers had used fake CTET and TET certificates, while degrees issued by certain universities and colleges were also found to be forged.
Bihar Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari said the dismissals mark only the beginning of a larger crackdown.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the minister said, “The investigation had been going on for a long time. Now it has come to light that the Vigilance Investigation Bureau has completed the investigation and found that more than 3,000 teachers had secured jobs using forged degrees.”
He added, “We have directed our departmental officials to take strict action. Going forward, the Education Department will ensure such stringent measures that no one dares to indulge in such fraudulent activities again.”
When asked whether the government would recover the salaries paid to the dismissed teachers along with interest, Tiwari said, “A decision will be announced once it is finalised. As I said, it will be a strict decision.”
The minister further said that all future recruitments would involve mandatory verification of candidates’ certificates before appointments are made.
Responding to another question on whether the fraud was limited to appointments made between 2006 and 2015, Tiwari said, “These irregularities have come to light because the government ordered an investigation. The probe was initiated on the directions of Nitish Kumar. It took time because a large number of appointments had to be examined. Even now, some investigations are pending. Every case will be investigated, and action will be taken against all those found guilty.”
Reiterating the government’s stance, the minister said, “The Education Department will not tolerate any kind of forgery. The zero-tolerance policy against corruption followed by the Central government is also the policy of our state government, and strict action will be taken against anyone involved in corruption.”
