Is self-certification as proof of income giving rise to scams?
Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 6
With the highest per capita ownership of motor vehicles in the country, the city believes in show-off with so many residents discarding the old each time a new model hits the road. However, there is a category of residents, who believe in showing themselves as poor, at least on paper, despite leading a comfortable life. They are the ones seeking admission for their wards under the EWS category.
The decade-old Right to Education (RTE) Act has virtually opened a chapter on scams in the academic history of the city with fake EWS applications being submitted to schools by well-off residents seeking free education for their children. They come in cars and have their own houses, but also carry a self-declaration document on their “poverty” status.
In Chandigarh, the methodology of declaring an applicant as EWS is also vague and questionable as the Administration only relies on a self-declaration affidavit submitted by the applicant.
There have been speculations on whether provisions of the RTE Act are reaching the targeted population or are being taken advantage of by persons faking EWS status.
Private schools in the UT have been claiming that EWS seats are being grabbed by non-EWS students, thus denying the rightful claimants of the seats, as also negating the purpose of the RTE.
A letter addressing the issue of fraud EWS cases by the principal of Tender Heart School, Vikrant Suri, to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) highlighted the grave concern over EWS claimants owning houses in various sectors of Chandigarh, a portion of which has been rented out by them, be it the ground floor or the first floor, for rent ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. This rental income has been completely hidden by EWS applicants while getting the income certificate made from the UT.
However, this has been subject to verification and investigation by the UT Administration. The letter contains details of fraud cases with proofs attested. It has also been claimed that the applicants have filed income tax returns of various assessment years wherein the declared annual income was ranging from Rs 2,75,000 to Rs 4,25,000. Children of such individuals are studying under the EWS quota in private schools of the UT for the past many years.
Suri, who has been independently verifying the residences of EWS applicants and students, told The Tribune, “Many applicants own one or two cars. Besides, in some cases, the applicants were having three to five bank accounts and where the total transactions have exceeded even Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per annum with frequent cash deposits of Rs 20,000 to Rs 45,000.”
How UT switched to self-certification
Until last year, the process of income certificate was under the scanner as some patwaris had to face inquiries when several schools questioned the EWS certification given by the DC’s office to fake EWS applicants. Consequently, the Governor had to halt issuing income certificate by the DC’s office. Till 2018-19, the SDM of the area concerned used to certify the family income of EWS applicants. However, when complaints were lodged pointing out wrong income certification, this process of certifying the family income was replaced by self-certified income affidavits by the applicants in the 2019-20 session.
In the ongoing practice, EWS parents will have to self-declare their income from all sources in the application form. There is no proof sought for income. The only documentary evidence sought are proof of residence, identity and date of birth. The particulars required to be disclosed are monthly income of other members of the family, total annual family income from all sources and total monthly family income from all sources in the application form. As it is a self-declaration of income, the parents also have to declare that if any information is found false at any stage, the admission of their ward will get cancelled without any further inquiry and action will be taken. The DEO, Chandigarh, had issued instructions to the effect that schools will not call for any further documents like employer’s certificate of salary, bank account statement of family members and ITR copy of the past three years.
‘Identify EWS via child-mapping survey’
UT-aided schools say they want to pick kids form the child-mapping survey carried out by the Edu Department. “We become culprits if we take reimbursement for a EWS applicant having an income of Rs4 lakh. It is a criminal offence,” says HS Mamik, president of the Independent Schools Association.
Income limit for EWS
Under Section 2(e) of the RTE Act, a child belonging to a parent or guardian whose annual income from all sources is less than Rs1.50 lakh is considered as a child belonging to the economically weaker section.
