What can be more sacred than education in life But even that is being defrauded.
After states like Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh Odisha Uttar Pradesh Bihar Karnataka Tripura and West Bengal made headlines for scams in the education sector Maharashtras name too has now unfortunately been added to this list I am extremely shocked What is happening in our state Who is responsible for it On one hand we talk about improving the quality of education in our state and on the other we see recruitment scams and multi crore salary frauds involving fake teachers occurring in our state.
Shortly after the investigation into this scam started in the Nagpur division reports emerged from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar about several cases where people had obtained PhDs using fake certificates I remember during my tenure in the Rajya Sabha I raised the issue of PhD scams multiple times and said that PhD degrees were being obtained on a large scale through plagiarism And now fake certificates are being used even for filing nominations It troubles me even to think what a teacher with forged documents will teach the students.
It is hard to believe that 580 appointments were made in 12 schools in the Nagpur division and officials from the school level to the ministry of education had no idea To state it in brief some school managements in collusion with officials used fake login IDs on the government portal to enter the names of teachers and staff Appointments were shown as backdated and crores of rupees were siphoned off as arrears This might have continued unchecked if a few officials hadnt realised something was wrong and refused to be a part of it It is said that some big politicians are involved too Once a proper investigation is conducted the names will come out.
When the directorate of education in Pune got wind of the scam it asked 304 schools to submit recruitment reports of teaching and nonteaching staff hired between 2019 and 2025 Along with approval details appointment dates and sanction letters they were also asked to provide salary bills The schools sent a list of 1056 appointments but did not provide detailed information because the appointments were actually made later while salaries were being claimed from earlier dates The education department officer from Nagpur Nilesh Waghmare who has been suspended for involvement in the scam held considerable influence in the department It is said he often boasted about his uncle being in the ministry Will the investigators ever find out who this uncle really is Another arrested officer Nilesh Meshram is reportedly the owner of three schools himself As the investigation progresses many layers of this scam will unfold Lets wait for now.
During the tenure of Prithviraj Chavan as chief minister when my younger brother Rajendra Darda was the education minister of Maharashtra he had exposed a major scam involving schools that were operating by enrolling bogus students At that time the secretary to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Shrikar Pardeshi was the collector of Nanded He gave a presentation before the then education minister Rajendra Darda revealing that the number of students on record in some schools in Nanded was far greater than the actual number of students present.
Rajendra Darda informed the Cabinet in its meeting that he was going to launch an intensive statewide drive to inspect all schools The then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and other ministers supported the initiative This was significant because many of those schools were owned by influential individuals or their associates Rajendra Darda formed a team comprising Pardeshi and two other officials They launched a massive three day investigation the biggest the country had seen up to that point and it yielded major results At the time the government records showed 218 crore students but the investigation found that 12 lakh of those students didnt exist at all The names on record were entirely fake Clearly crores of rupees towards payment of teachers textbooks notebooks midday meals and other essentials were being misappropriated in the name of those 12 lakh fake students It is estimated that this drive by Rajendra Darda saved the government around Rs 100 crore annually One thing is crystal clear that ever since the implementation of pay scales for teachers and the provision of government recommended salaries to teachers in aided schools these scams have increased significantly From the bottom to the top people at every level are involved It is nothing less than the loot of taxpayers money.
I am astonished that this is happening in our country where education is considered a sacred pursuit But now schools and colleges are increasingly being referred to as establishments reflecting a mindset that sees education as a business You would be shocked to learn that there are many such profiteers in the education sector who own multiple flats worth hundreds of crores in big cities.
Remember there is no greater blessing in society than education Only when we create conditions for quality education can we produce quality students and teachers Only then can we proudly say to the world that Ramayan is ours Bhagavad Gita is ours Today universities around the world are studying Ramayan Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharat while we at home are becoming bereft of it You dont have to give anything just give education If one child from a poor household gets access to education he or she transforms the entire family Education is the only force with the power to bring about true change Ive seen millionaires become bankrupt but Ive also seen people with education reach the pinnacle of success In my view fiddling with education is not just betrayal of oneself but of the nation as well I am confident that the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will bring these traitors to justice And he has with him his secretary Pardeshi who has the experience to catch such traitors.