E-Paper
Quick and controversial: Questions raised over last minute-decisions before edu secretary’s retirement
Certain govt employees were granted extension, or given ‘ad hoc’ promotion, or reinstated or transferred back despite allegations of fraud and financial irregularities
Serious questions are being raised in educational institutions over a flurry of “controversial” decisions taken in the last week of November 2019 in the UT education department, just before education secretary BL Sharma’s retirement, it has been learnt.
Arjun Dev, deputy director, administration (officiating), was granted extension despite three complaints, including that of fraud, against him. Rama Arora was given ‘ad hoc’ promotion as principal, Post Graduate Government College (PGGC), Sector-11, in spite of objections from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) over her PhD.
Preeti Garg was transferred back as officiating principal, Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 23, even after allegations of financial irregularities, misbehaviour and corporal punishment against her. JBT (junior basic trained) teacher Parvinder Singh Sabharwal, was reinstated at GMSSS, Sector 21, after being suspended for his involvement in an alleged cheating case of ₹1.67 crore.
Dev’s extension was cleared by the dealing assistant to Sharma and within a day on November 28, 2019. This happened despite a November 25 vigilance communication pointing to three complaints, including obtaining of a caste certificate ‘fraudulently’, against him.
A series of applications under the Right to Information Act (RTI) revealed interesting responses.
The education department said that Dev had been given a clean chit and that the vigilance department found complaints against him devoid of any merit in July 2017. However vigilance communication stated that one complaint was under “consideration” and two others were sent to the education secretary for “reports” on the matter.
When contacted, Dev said he could not be denied extension if there was no chargesheet and FIR against him (according to 2015 instructions of the Punjab government adopted by UT). However, rules adopted by UT in 2018 barred extension in case of pending probes. Sanction for the post by the HRD ministry also expired in 2019.
In his response to a query by HT, BL Sharma said Dev was already on extension and complaints against him “were” closed by former education secretaries.
Arora was granted ‘ad hoc’ promotion as principal of PGGC-11 on November 29, 2019, in spite of UPSC asking for a clarification on her PhD degree on November 27. Arora got her PhD from Punjabi University for physics even though her course work was in mathematics.
Issues were also raised over her attendance then. The university response to RTI plea said it could not locate any document indicating she had received special permission for her course work.
To HT queries, director, higher education, Rubinderjit Brar, said UPSC was approached four times for holding departmental promotion committee and that under 2013 government of India instructions on ad hoc promotions, such promotions in ‘exceptional circumstances’ were permissible.
Retiring on August 31 this year, Arora refused to comment, saying she had responded to the department. Sharma, on the other hand, said the competent authority for the approval of promotion in this case was the UT administrator, not him.
In the case of GMSSS-23, Preeti Garg was transferred back as officiating principal on November 22 after being moved out on September 25 after allegations by staff members of financial irregularities, misbehaviour and corporal punishment.To this the education department said Garg had been brought back as the then district education officer (DEO) Anujit Kaur had probed the cases without seeking clarifications from her (Garg) within two days and “without due application of mind.”
The inquiry report obtained through RTI, however, confirmed that Garg was asked twice to respond to the allegations, but had “refused to cooperate”. Later, Brar intervened and allowed her a personal hearing, after which she was brought back.
Garg, when contacted, said, the DEO had not associated her with the probe and the DSE had later sought her comments on the allegations.Sharma said that he was not aware of all the facts of the case and that “he went by what director and principal had told him.”
Sabharwal was reinstated as JBT teacher at GMSSS, Sector 21, within two months after being suspended on September 26, 2019, for his alleged involvement in a cheating case of ₹1.67 crore, even though he had confessed to the offence in a letter to the education secretary. The maximum period of suspension, pending inquiry, was six months.
“It is for the police to take an action, not the department,” was Sharma’s response to HT’s query. The education department, meanwhile said the case of cheating was a “personal” and not “official” matter and that a police report was awaited as Sabharwal had not been given a clean chit.
However, police in December last year accused Sabharwal of making false allegations against another man involved in the case to “escape from his liabilities.”
Sabharwal did not respond to calls and messages.
BL Sharma, when contacted, refuted all allegations, saying these were baseless and that he was working as an honest officer till his last working day, discharging his duties.
