HRDD suspends 3 teachers accused of forging documents for CM’s Special Merit Scholarship

GANGTOK, 02 March: The headmaster and two teachers of Suntaley Junior High School in South Sikkim accused of having forged documents to enable their ward to sit for the screening test of the Chief Minister’s Merit Scholarship scheme were issued suspension orders by the Human Resource Development Department today. [click here and here for details of the case]
Director, HRDD, CS Rao, while speaking to NOW! late this afternoon, informed that the Department has drawn up the suspension orders and issued them before office closed today.

The three accused - Headmaster, Purna Bahadur Gurung, and two teachers, Binod Gurung and Bhuwan Pandey - it may be recalled, had forged documents to show the children of the Headmaster and one of the teachers as having studied at Suntaley Junior High School since class 1 and as having coming first and second in the class V exams [when in fact they were studying in private schools in the area]. With this, they had qualified to sit for the screening test of the scholarship programme and had gone on to land the scholarship.
The villagers had protested and submitted a formal complaint on 22 Feb last month. The next day, the Department had struck off the names of the two wards from schools they had been sponsored to and on 26 Feb, served a show-cause notice to the three teachers for the forgery effected by them [to show the two children as students of Suntaley JHS and as having topped class V].
The show-cause notice has given the three teachers seven days time to explain or counter the charges against them. With still a couple of days left for this deadline to end, they were placed under suspension today. The show-cause notice [click here for details], also warns them that “…as a Government servant, your conduct is in violation of sub-rule [i] [ii] & [iii] of Rule 3 of the Sikkim Government Servant’s Conduct Rules, 1981… You are, therefore, directed to submit in writing, within 7 days from the date of receipt of this Notice as to why disciplinary action should not be initiated against you failing which your service shall be terminated without further notice…”
No response to the show-cause has been filed by the three teachers thus far and as things stand, a termination from service appears set for them.