DEO chargesheeted for appointing ‘ineligible’ teacher in Hoshiarpur

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 17

The Education Department is in the news more often for the wrong reasons. Be it charges of corruption against officials and clerks, poor results or long-pending inquiries, the department manages to grab the headlines.

A fortnight ago, the Block Primary Education Officer (BPEO) of Nakodar-1 was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 1,500 by a team of the Vigilance Bureau.

Now, District Education Officer (Elementary) Rampal has been chargesheeted by the education department for appointing a teacher who was not eligible. When Rampal was working as District Elementary Officer, Hoshiarpur, he had appointed a teacher who had not passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which is against the rules of the department.

The department, in a letter (Jalandhar Tribune has a copy of the letter) released on July 27, said the education officer during his tenure as District Education Officer (Elementary), Hoshiarpur, had appointed a teacher who had not even cleared the TET.

According to the charges, Rampal had appointed one Rajesh Kumar and had written in the appointment letter that he would be given promotion once he passes the teacher eligibility test.

The letter further reads that due to the charges, the DEO is liable for major punishment under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishments and Appeals) Rules, 1970.

Rampal has been asked to give a reply to the department in 20 days.

When contacted, Rampal said he had appointed the teacher on compassionate grounds. “Orders for appointing teachers with TET had come in 2012 and the procedure for appointment of the teacher was prior to that of 2012,” he claimed.

“I have documents and will produce them and give a reply to the Education Department,” the DEO added. Circle Education Officer (CEO) Jaspal Singh claimed he was not aware of any inquiry being started despite the fact that the letter has been forwarded to the CEO office. “I do not know if the DEO has been chargesheeted,” he claimed.

Tejinder Pal Singh, joint secretary of the department, said, “We have asked why the teachers who were appointed at that time were still working in the department and the inquiry will start accordingly.”

Also, there are a lot of inquiries that have been pending for long. In the Education Department in Jalandhar district, political pressure seems to weigh heavily on merit. The department seems to be banking on the corruption list as it has been hushing up inquiries and complaints and giving additional charges to the tainted officials. It seems the inquiries have become an eyewash and the complaints are not taken seriously by the authorities concerned.

Fact file

In the Education Department in Jalandhar district, political pressure seems to weigh heavily on merit. The department seems to be banking on the corruption list as it has been hushing up inquiries and complaints and giving additional charges to the tainted officials. It seems the inquiries have become an eyewash and the complaints are not taken seriously by the authorities concerned.