Arunachal Pradesh terminates services of 256 teachers, staffers for producing 'forged' appointment letters

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh government has terminated the services of 256 teachers, clerks and multi-tasking staffers for producing "forged and fabricated" appointment orders to concerned authorities without maintaining formalities of the education department, officials said on Friday.

State Education Commissioner Amjad Tak has issued separate orders terminating these employees from services in various districts after an inquiry committee, constituted to analyse the alleged irregularities, found that such appointment letters have “never been issued from the directorate of elementary education”, they said.

The orders revealed that "a significant number of primary teachers (PRTs), trained graduate teachers (TGTs), upper and lower division clerks (UDCs and LDCs) and multi-tasking staff (MTS) had secured their positions by presenting appointment orders that were later discovered to be fraudulent". “All the illegal appointments were made by different authorities and enquiry is going on. So far, a deputy director of secondary education of Longding district has been suspended for his involvement in the irregularities. Administrative action will be initiated against others who are found involved in the case,” Tak said.

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Chief Minister Pema Khandu has already ordered for handing over of the case to a special investigation team of the state police, the official said. According to the orders, services of 101 individuals have been terminated in Siang district, followed by 72 in Changlang, 26 in Anjaw, 18 in East Siang, 10 in Longding, eight in Upper Subansiri six in Kurung Kumey, four each in Lohit and Lower Siang, three in the state capital region, two in Tirap, one in West Siang and one staffer working under the deputy director of secondary education in Upper Siang district.

The education department also directed the authorities concerned to file FIRs about the forgery and fabrication of appointment orders. “Following an extensive examination of relevant records, the committee determined that the purported appointment orders had never been officially issued by the directorate of elementary education,” another official added.