Anamika Shukla fallout: Set up team to probe teachers’ documents: Yogi

LUCKNOW

UTTAR Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanathonSundayasked officials to set up a team to verify documents that helped Government teachers across the State get their jobs, an order apparently triggered by the curious case of Anamika Shukla.

TheSpecialTaskForce (STF)of the State police was also recentlyaskedtoprobethecaseinwhich several lakh rupees have been withdrawnfrommultipleschools as salary in the name of just one teacher -- Anamika Shukla. OnSunday,policereportedtwo more arrests, in Aligarh and Mainpuri districts, of teachers allegedlyimpersonatinghereven as Congress leader Priyanka GandhiVadratookanotherswipe atthe StateGovernmentoverthe case.

Adityanath asked officials toconstitute a dedicatedteamto verify thedocumentsofteachers appointed in schools under the departments of secondary education, higher education, basic education, social welfare and at the Kasturba GandhiVidyalayas. “Stringentactionshouldbeinitiated against the defaulters,” a statement quoted the Chief Minister as saying at a meeting at his home. Special Task Force Inspector General Amitabh Yash said an STF probe was ordered into the Anamika Shukla case three days back.

“The STF is probing the larger conspiracy. We are trying to identify culprits. Arrests are likely very soon,” he told PTI on Sunday. Other STF officials said the probe is underway in Allahabad, Aligarh, Raebareli, Saharanpur, Kasganj and Ambedkar Nagar districts.

They said junior departmental staff appeared to be involved in the scam. One Anamika Shukla resigned inKasganj earlierthismonthbut was arrested. In Gonda, another Anamika Shukla appeared before the authorities pleading innocence andclaimingthathereducational documents appeared to have been used by tricksters.

ShehadpassedtheState’squalifying test and had applied for a job in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Gonda. But she was not been able to join the school due to some personal reasons. OnSaturday, shewas appointed as an assistant teacher on an ad hoc basis by a state-aided private school. UP Minister of State for Basic

EducationSatishDwivedhassaid the investigation so far revealed that the same set of documents were used to draw Rs 12.24 lakh fromnine schools. Initialreports mentioned a figure of over Rs 1 crore drawn over 13 months across several schools