Nagpur: In a massive education scam unearthed in Nagpur, the Maharashtra School Education Department has initiated criminal proceedings against five senior education officers for allegedly facilitating the inclusion of 580 fake teachers and non-teaching staff in government-aided schools, reported Hindustan Times. The scam, exposed through a preliminary inquiry, has resulted in a loss of over Rs 100 crore to the state exchequer since 2019.
According to officials, 12 schools in Nagpur fraudulently registered fake staff on the government’s salary disbursement portal ‘Shalarth’, drawing monthly salaries under forged identities for nearly six years. The accused officers, including those at the deputy director level, allegedly colluded with school managements to generate login credentials from the directorate of education and enroll fake personnel to siphon off government funds.
The scam came to light when newly appointed officers refused to be part of the malpractice and flagged the irregularities. A detailed preliminary inquiry report was submitted to the education commissioner on March 7, prompting immediate departmental action.
Reacting to the findings, Principal Secretary of the School Education Department, Ranjit Singh Deol, confirmed that the department has proposed criminal proceedings and financial recovery from the five implicated officers. “It is a huge scam, and we have taken serious note of it. The minister is expected to decide on further action soon,” Deol said, adding that the exact financial loss is still being assessed.
The state government has also constituted a committee to examine the inquiry report and suggest appropriate action under service rules. In some cases, schools have returned a portion of the misappropriated funds.
An education department official revealed that some of the schools involved had links to local political leaders, and similar fraudulent activities have been detected in Solapur and other districts. “There are 5,844 aided schools across the state receiving government salary support. We have now directed all district-level officers to conduct thorough audits,” the official said.
The department has stressed the need for stringent punitive action to set a precedent and safeguard against judicial scrutiny, especially since multiple legal cases involving government-aided schools are currently pending in courts.
The investigation also found that in certain instances, funds were disbursed to schools even before official approvals for aid were granted, further exposing administrative lapses.
