JAMMU: After a year, Syed Mohd Altaf Bukhari on Friday staged a comeback in the Council of Ministers of Mehbooba Mufti led alliance government.
In his previous innings, during Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s term in office, Bukhari handled the job as Works Minister in a very professional manner. But now as he has been allotted the all important portfolio of Education Department, he will have to do a tight rope walking from day one in office.
Bukhari has inherited a huge back log of commitments made by his predecessors to cleanse the system and make the working of the department more transparent and corruption-free.
With lot of experience on his side, he is expected to streamline the working of the department and punish the nuisance makers who have taken every one for a ride.
To begin with Syed Mohd Altaf Bukhari will have to take the ongoing probe into the high profile promotion scam of teachers to Masters grade to its logical conclusion to make his presence felt.
After STATE TIMES’ expose on promotion of 1,193 Teachers as Masters, mostly on the basis of fake and unrecognised degrees and subsequent registration of two FIRs against two IAS and three KAS officers and others, the Directorate of Education Jammu has been delaying the information to the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) with regard to names of promotees and their controlling officers, including the Chief Education Officers (CEOs) and Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) who verified and incorporated their degrees on service books.
An eleven-member committee was formed to decide the fate of 1,193 teachers vide No DSEJ/NG/M/Prom/7255-68 dated 11th February, 2014 with a direction to submit its report by 6th December, 2016.
Instead of taking the ongoing probe to its logical conclusion the Education Department had assigned the job to the third panel for authenticating qualifications of Teachers promoted as Maters vide Order No DESJ/NG/M/7255-68 dated 11th February 2014.
The Committee, constituted, vide order 584-DSEJ of 2016 dated 15th November, 2016, is headed by Principal, State Institute of Education (SIE) Jammu. The members include, Romesh Chander, Sudarshan Kumari, Rita Sharma, Principals Directorate of School Education (DSE) Jammu; Nand Kishore Principal SIE Jammu; Namrata Khajuria Principal/HOD DIET, Jammu; Karan Maini, Lecturer DSE Jammu; Amita Gandotra, Tapasya Sharma, Rakhi Attri and Aruna Dutta, Research Officers SIE Jammu; and Pawan Khajuria Lecturer DIET, Jammu.
According to official sources in the State Education Department the case has been lingering since long. According to the FIRs, two IAS officers, during their tenure as Director School Education (DSE Jammu), promoted teachers as Masters on the basis of B.Ed degrees obtained from unrecognized Universities during the years 2013 and 2014 respectively.
According to FIR 29/15, in 2013, P.K. Pole, IAS, the then Director School Education Jammu, Chairman Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) and other members namely Rashid Azam Inqalabi the then Addl. Secretary to Govt. School Education, Narupa Rai, KAS Personnel officer to Director School Education, S.K. Gandotra, the then Joint Director School Education under a conspiracy hatched among themselves and with concerned ZEOs and CEOs had illegally promoted beneficiary teachers as Masters on the basis of invalid degrees in violation of Govt. Order No.252 of 2012 dated 30th May 2012. Similarly in FIR 30/15, verification conducted by SVO revealed that in 2014, the then Director School Education Jammu, Chairman Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) and other members, Rashid Azam Inqalabi the then Addl. Secretary to Govt. School Education, Susheel Kumar, KAS the then Personnel officer to Director School Education, Saif Ali and the then Jt. Director School Education, under a conspiracy hatched among themselves and with concerned ZEOs and CEOs had again illegally promoted beneficiary teachers as Masters on the basis of invalid degrees.
Both the FIRs have been registered under Section 5(1) (d) read with Sections 5 (2) J&K Prevention of Corruption Act. 2006 and Sections 420, 467, 468 and 120-B RPC.
First inquiry committee was formed on 13th August, 2015, the then Director School Education Yasha Mudgal had ordered a probe into the promotion of teachers on the basis of fake B.Ed degrees, as exclusively exposed by STATE TIMES, wherein two Field Advisors and three Principals were appointed as members.
Second committee was formed on 4th September, 2015 vide Order No 510 DSEJ of 2015.
The Directorate of Education, Jammu, was reported to be delaying the information to the State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) with regard to names of such promotees and their respective heads including the Chief Education Officers (CEOs) and Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) who verified and enrolled their degrees on service books.
However, despite series of reminders by SVO to Director Education Jammu vide letter number Veri-©-20/2014-6125 dated 21st April 2015, who took up the matter with CEOs of Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Rajouri and Poonch vide numbers DSEJ/NG/M/Vig/2071-77 dated 7th May 2015 and DSEJ/NG/M/73369-75 dated 30th May, 2016, no information was shared with the investigating agency.
In another recent reminder issued on November 8, 2016, the SSP Vigilance has again asked the Directorate of Education to provide the entire record of the promotions.
As per list issued by the Director School Education Jammu vide No. SEJ/NG/M/Prom./7255/681 dated 11th February 2014, 1,193 teachers had been promoted as Masters. Of these over 450 teachers were reportedly promoted on the basis of B.Ed degrees obtained from Open Universities through distance-mode particularly from Jamia Urdu Aligarh University (UP).