Maharashtra Teacher Recruitment Scam: SIT Launches Probe, Thousands of Officers Take Leave in Protest

Maharashtra Teacher Recruitment Scam: The officers' association claims that thousands of education officers, deputy directors, and payroll superintendents in Maharashtra will join the protest.

Following the discovery of a major scam involving fake Shalarth IDs used for fraudulent teacher recruitment in Maharashtra, the state government established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a thorough investigation. The team will examine teacher recruitment in Nagpur as well as in Mumbai, Nashik, Jalgaon, and the Marathwada districts of Beed and Latur.

The recently uncovered teacher recruitment scam in Nagpur involved the inclusion of ineligible teachers and non-teaching staff in the Shalaarth system, resulting in their receiving salaries. Some education department officials involved in the scam, using fraudulent IDs, have been arrested.

The SIT investigating this matter is headed by Chandrakant Pulkuundwar, the Divisional Commissioner of Pune. The team also includes Inspector General of Police Manoj Sharma and Harun Atar, Joint Director of the Directorate of Education. The SIT is required to submit its report to the government within three months. The investigation will cover all recruitments, approvals, service continuity, and transfers from non-granted to granted positions from 2012 to the present.

According to reports, the SIT will investigate all individual approvals, Shalaarth approvals, service continuity, and transfers from non-granted to granted positions for teachers and non-teaching staff in primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools under all divisional education deputy director offices from 2012 to the present.

Meanwhile, the state's education department is in turmoil. Over 1,000 gazetted officers in the department have announced an indefinite mass leave starting August 8th. The officers' association claims that 1,000 officers, including education officers, deputy directors, and pay superintendents, will participate in this protest.

It remains to be seen what changes will occur in Maharashtra's education department and teacher recruitment system after the SIT's report is submitted in three months, as this scam has brought thousands of recruitments in several districts, including Mumbai, under scrutiny.