12 Teachers Suspended Over Fake Certificates In Odisha’s Kandhamal

Kandhamal: Amid an intensified probe by Odisha Crime Branch into the fake certificate racket in Balangir district, School and Mass Education (SME) Department has suspended 12 teachers in Kandhamal district for alleged forgery.

According to sources, the process to identify fake teachers was accelerated after the government received backlash over delay in terminating their services. The DEO, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, and other field functionaries were asked to immediately verify certificate, mark sheets, training and other academic certificates as well as caste certificate and service record. Request letters were sent to authorities of some universities in the state, apart from Andhra University, Kurukshetra University, Jammu-Kashmir University and several other universities in the country for verification of BEd certificates and mark sheets of teachers.

During verification, certificates of 12 teachers were found to have been forged and they were placed under suspension, the sources added.

In 2022, the Orissa High Court had directed the state government to terminate services of teachers, who had submitted fake certificates during recruitment in Cuttack district. Following which, the department asked the DEOs, BEOs and DPCs to verify the details of the teachers and submit details of those, whose marks sheets, academic certificates or service record were found to be suspicious, for necessary action.

The directorates under the SME department was also instructed to disengage such teachers and lodge FIR against them in concerned police stations.