Mark sheets of Odisha’s Gramin Dak Sevaks inducted after 2018 to be scrutinised

S Barik said the Department of Post shortlisted 1,380 candidates on the basis of marks obtained in their matriculation examination for Branch Post Masters, Assistant Branch Post Masters and Dak Sevaks in the Grameen Dak Sevak cadre.

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha postal department will scrutinise mark sheets and certificates submitted by Grameen Dak Sevaks (GDS) who were recruited after the selection process went online in 2018, a senior official said on Monday amid the ongoing probe into candidates who were appointed on the strength of fake certificates.

GDS employees are extra-governmental employees of the Indian postal department who work in rural post offices for a consolidated monthly pay of ₹12,000-16,000 (Twitter/ANI/ Representative Image)

“All candidates who have been working or waiting to be recruited would be investigated. Their mark sheet will be examined. Since 2018 was the year when recruitment for Grameen Dak Sevak jobs was made online, we have set 2018 as the cut-off year,” said S Barik, Director of Postal Service, Odisha.

Barik said the Department of Post shortlisted 1,380 candidates on the basis of marks obtained in their matriculation examination for Branch Post Masters, Assistant Branch Post Masters and Dak Sevaks in the Grameen Dak Sevak cadre.

The GDS employees are extra-governmental employees of the Indian postal department who work in rural post offices for a consolidated monthly pay of ₹12,000-16,000 till they retire at the age of 65 years. GDS employees can be promoted as government employees in the postal department if they clear the departmental exam after serving for some years.

But Rajendra Kumar Patnaik, superintendent of Bolangir Postal Division, found it strange that many of them could not write simple words despite scoring more than 90%. Last month, he filed a police complaint which was later taken up by the criminal investigation department (CID). So far, 19 people including the main accused Manoj Mishra and his accomplice Alok Udgata, who ran a coaching centre in Bolangir town, have been arrested.

As it became clear that the candidates who paid for the fake mark sheets didn’t just apply for postal jobs, the CID also expanded the scope of its probe. The two main accused are alleged to have told the police that they had sold over 5,000 fake certificates for anything about ₹1-1.5 lakh. In Jeypore town of Koraput district also, police arrested four people who allegedly submitted fake certificates to get postal jobs.

The state school and mass education department has also asked all district education officers to examine certificates of teachers appointed on basis of certificates from educational institutes of other states.

Odisha’s directorate of elementary education has told education officers at the district level to submit their report within two days. “Action will be taken against the fake teachers on the basis of the reports,” said director of elementary education, Jyoti Ranjan Mishra.

Mishra said a total of 300 teachers who submitted fake caste certificates, birth certificates and educational qualification certificates have been identified and FIRs registered.