JOIN US Forged certificates of various Central government ministries and departments, including the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), were being used to secure admissions to Kendriya Vidyalayas in the national capital.
A striking example of such nefarious activities has come to light in a series of replies given by the government and departments under Right to Information (RTI) Act to two residents of Delhi.
The RTI replies (copies of which are in possession of Deccan Herald) revealed that parents of 13 children got their wards enrolled in class I at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Push Vihar, on the basis of forged Central government service certificates in 2011.
The school administration, however, cancelled the admission later in January 2012 after it came know that their parents had lied. Interestingly, the school administration did not lodge any FIR against anyone in the case and hushed up the matter, cancelling the admissions on the grounds that parents could not provide “proper service certificate.”
Of the 13 parents, one claimed to be employed with the Indian Navy, three with the ITBP, two with the Geological Survey of India, two with the Ministry of New Renewable Energy, two with the Delhi Municipal Corporation and one each with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the Department of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
When the matter came to the knowledge of Avan Sharma and Raman Sharma, they filed RTI applications with the school, seeking information about the children and their parents along with copies of the service certificates.
After getting the desired information from the school, they filed RTI applications with the ministries and departments concerned. In the replies, these ministries and departments, except the Western Naval Command Headquarters, confirmed that none of the parents of these 13 children were their employees.
Public information officer of the Western Naval Command Headquarters Captain S Ruperee refused to part with the desired information to Sharma, saying it was “third party information.”
“I was not here when this incident occurred. I have recently joined. But, yes, it is correct that some parents managed to secure admission of their wards on the basis of forged service certificates. When I came to know about it, I enquired. I don’t know why an FIR was not lodged in the case,” said J P Singh, principal of the school.