Fresh trouble for 776 ‘Munnabhai’ teachers

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 6

Haryana’s 776 ‘Munnabhai’ teachers, who allegedly got into government service through fraudulent means such as impersonation, are in fresh trouble with the Haryana Government now setting a one-week deadline for taking action against them under the Haryana Civil Service(HCS) Rules.

In an order dated July 3, the Director, Elementary Education, Haryana Government, has asked District Elementary Education Officers(DEEOs) to take action against such teachers under the HCS Rules failing which strict action would be taken against them.

The latest order seems to be an offshoot of a recent directive of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had stayed the earlier notices to the erring teachers. “Morevoer, the petitioners(teachers) are regular employees and any action with regard to the termination of their services cannot be taken without following the procedure laid down under the HCS Rules,” the HC had said.

Earlier, the Haryana Government had decided to terminate the services of 776 as their thumb impressions did not match with those in the answersheets and application forms in forensic tests at the State Crime Records Bureau, Madhuban. As many as 216 erring teachers had resigned while the forensic tests were in progress.

The case dates back to 2009 when about 8,200 teachers were selected by the Congress government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The matter landed up in the High Court in December, 2010, when Praveen Kumar and seven others moved a petition seeking directives to verify the thumb impressions of all selected teachers. The petitioners alleged that several selected candidates had cleared the Haryana Teachers’ Eligibility Test (HTET) through impersonation.