Bihar CM orders probe into teachers’ forged degrees

Mangalore Today News Network

Patna, July 5, 2014:  Bihar Chief Minister Jeetan Ram Manjhi on Friday ordered a probe into the teachers’ forged degrees scam and said all “fake” teachers would be dismissed and legal action would be also taken against them.

The chief minister was reacting to The Indian Express reports, published on Thursday and Friday, about how more than 20,000 teachers had managed to get jobs during the mass appointment of contract teachers between 2006 and 2012 by allegedly bribing appointing authorities at five levels from panchayat to district.

“We have taken a very serious note of the revelation on large scale appointment of teachers on forged degrees. We are getting it probed thoroughly at all levels and will take action against such teachers and the officials responsible for it,” Manjhi told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Education Minister Brishen Patel said the department had already intensified the degree verification drive. ‘We have asked officials concerned to look into the matter and ensure that those getting jobs on forged degrees are removed,” said Patel. He, however, could not answer the question of an RJD legislator in the legislative council on what the government had done to remove about 250 contract teachers, who allegedly got jobs on forged degrees in Jamui. The minister sought time to answer the question.

BJP legislature party leader Sushil Kumar Modi told The Indian Express later, “Since the minister was not equipped to take questions on the teachers’ forged degrees, he might well have got away with counter queries from us today. We will not rest till the government orders a full-fledged inquiry to verify the degrees of all 1.42 lakh contract teachers.”

On what the BJP, which was an alliance partner of JD(U) till June 2013, had done to sack such teachers, he said: “We had no measure of such largescale bungling. Nothing should prevent the state government from removing teachers with forged degrees. As a responsible opposition, we will keep the heat on Manjhi government.”