A woman from Gonda district on Tuesday alleged that her educational certificates were “misused” to provide jobs to several “fake” teachers at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Schools across Uttar Pradesh, adding a new twist to the controversy over teacher recruitment.
The woman, identifying herself as Anamika Shukla, submitted her certificates at the office of the Basic Education Officer, Gonda, and lodged a complaint with the police. She demanded action against those who had got recruited in her name.
“I am the real Anamika Shukla,” she said, asserting that she came out to clear her name after the media reported that a woman with her identity had been drawing lakhs in salary through postings in several districts.
‘Not worked’
Ms. Shukla said that though she had applied for the post of science teacher at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Schools in Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Basti, Mirzapur and Lucknow districts since 2017, she did not appear for counselling. She clarified that she had not worked at any of these schools.
The Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Ghonda, said Ms. Shukla’s emergence in public made it clear that the “real Anamika Shukla” was from Gonda.
Ms. Shukla, a resident of Kamrawan in Gonda, cleared the teacher eligibility test in 2015 and B.Ed. in 2014.
The controversy unfolded after reports said a woman named Anamika Shukla had grabbed multiple teaching jobs in several districts and drawn a salary of over ₹1 crore. The government started a probe, and Minister of State for Basic Education Satish Dwivedi issued a clarification on Tuesday.
‘Documents in records’
Mr. Dwivedi said the documents of ‘Anamika Shukla’ were found in the records of schools each in Amethi, Ambedkar Nagar, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Prayagraj, Kasganj, Varanasi, Aligarh and Rae Bareli. The government believed some other people were appointed to the post with the documents of ‘Anamika Shukla,’ whose real identity was not yet known.
In several cases, the appointed teacher did not join duty or remained absent, but in six schools, those appointed with the documents of Anamika Shukla received ₹12.24 lakh in salaries, Mr. Dwivedi said.
One such teacher was arrested in Kasganj, but the police were trying to identify the main accused. “The exact Anamika Shukla is not yet in the custody of the police,” he said, hours before Ms. Shukla emerged in Gonda. The government is yet to react to this development.
