Thaindian News

Mumbai, Oct 3 (IANS) To weed out bogus pupils, the Maharashtra government Monday initiated a drive to verify the number of students on the rolls of aided private and government-run schools, an official said.

The move follows the discovery last month of bogus students on the rolls of some schools, which exploited the ‘inflated’ numbers of pupils to secure more aid from the government.

“The verification drive is being conducted for three days - till Oct 5 - simultaneously all over Maharashtra to ascertain whether the government grants are being utilised properly or not,” the official from the education department told IANS.

The report of the verification drive is expected to be submitted from all district headquarters to the education department by the end of this week.

The education department sleuths are being provided local police security wherever required, but no problems are anticipated, the official added.

The drive comes following a revelation last month that in Nanded district, nearly 20 percent students did not ‘exist’ on the rolls but the schools availed huge grants in their names.

A similar verification campaign has been initiated in Mumbai suburban district where nearly one million students are enrolled in around 1,800 aided private schools.

The grants given to the schools are spent to meet expenses like salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff, building rents and/or maintenance, uniforms, books, stationery, and meals given to the students.