CBI begins probe into fake admissions in Fatehabad schools

A CBI team from Chandigarh on Wednesday visited the Government Senior Secondary School, Bhirdana, to probe alleged fake student admissions used to fraudulently claim benefits under the mid-day meal and scholarship schemes.

The investigation follows complaints of ghost enrolments between 2013 and 2016 across several government schools in Haryana. Officials said the agency had already notified the Education Department on September 18 about its inspection schedule, covering 14 schools in Fatehabad, including Bhattu Kalan, Jandwala Bagad, Bhirdana, Ratia, Bhuna, Tohana Mandi, and Meond Kalan.

At Bhirdana, the CBI team reviewed enrolment registers and questioned students and their parents — particularly those whose names had been removed from school records or who appeared in earlier registers but were allegedly never attending classes.

According to a school official, student strength fell sharply in 2014-15, with 137 names dropping off rolls, a discrepancy now under investigation.

One student alleged: “After I complained about the lack of teaching in Class 9, my name and those of my brothers were removed from the school records.”

Many teachers from that period have since been transferred, making it difficult to ascertain who was actually present at the time.

Audit red flags

According to sources, a 2013 audit had revealed nearly 4 lakh fake admissions in government schools across Haryana. The alleged scam involved manual entries to inflate student numbers and fraudulently claim benefits under Central schemes.

The irregularities came to light during the 2015–16 migration to the MIS (Management Information System) portal, which exposed glaring mismatches in enrolment data.

The CBI is now verifying whether students were genuinely enrolled or if their names were added solely to claim subsidies.