Appointments of 1,397 teachers in Nagpur division to be re-examined; post-2012 hirings under scrutiny

New details have emerged on the teacher recruitment scam. During its probe into the Shalarth ID scam, the school education department had come to suspect the appointments of some more teachers. The appointments of 1,397 teachers in the Nagpur division alone will now be re-examined. The inquiry is reported to begin next week.

The education department's probe had found that many teachers were appointed after 2012 in violation of the rules. For this reason, the 1,397 teachers will be called for separate hearings. Their documents and the process by which they were selected will be examined.

Shivling Patve, president of the Nagpur divisional education board, said the inquiry would follow the court's guidelines. He said action would be taken against teachers found guilty in the matter.

Following the Shalarth ID scam, appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff made since 2012 in six districts of eastern Vidarbha are also being investigated. Committees headed by the directors of primary and secondary education were formed to examine the proposals for individual approvals given for these appointments. The committees are reported to have camped in Nagpur for two days and examined about 1,000 cases.

The Shalarth ID case had exposed several irregularities in the education department's teacher recruitment process. Against this background, action was taken against some education officers, including a deputy director. It was then decided that the individual approvals that education officers had granted, using their powers, to teachers and non-teaching staff of various schools would also be examined.

The inquiry looked at several matters: whether the appointed teachers held the required educational qualifications, whether the appointment process followed the rules, and whether the educational and other certificates submitted by candidates are genuine. Information was also gathered on the current service status of the employees concerned. Whether the necessary documents were complete was also checked.