Ludhiana:Government school head teacher booked for fake admissions, fund bungling

The Daba police on Saturday registered a case against the head teacher of Government Primary School, Sekhewal, after allegations of financial and academic misconduct during her time at a school in Giaspura, officials said.

Police identified the accused as Nisha Rani, and said the case was registered following statements from district education officer (DEO elementary) Ravinder Kaur, who uncovered ‘irregularities’ while investigating the accused’s tenure at Government Primary School (GPS), Giaspura.

The case was registered under sections 409 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Daba station-house officer (SHO) Gurdial Singh said the first-information report (FIR) was registered on March 13 and that records have been requested from the education department.

According to DEO Kaur, the accused allegedly made over 2,500 fake admissions during her time at Giaspura. She said the manipulation distorted records and allowed undue benefits such as mid-day meals, uniforms and books to be claimed fraudulently.

A final inquiry report into the irregularities, prepared in December last year, pointed to ‘administrative lapses’ under Rani’s leadership. The investigation, led by Bassian Government Senior Secondary School principal Gurdeep Singh and Sidhwan Bet-2 block primary education officer Hardev Singh, found that at least 39 students were falsely marked as having attended the 2023-24 examination.

According to the report, other students were made to sit in their place. The report said this enabled the school to claim government grants intended for student welfare.

The report found nearly ₹6 lakh were withdrawn from the school welfare fund using self-signed cheques, violating regulations. The salaries for mid-day meal cook-cum-helpers were withdrawn in cash instead of being transferred to their bank accounts. The report also flagged forgery of school management committee chairperson Balbir Singh’s signatures on important documents such as bills and cash books.

Earlier, DEO Kaur flagged multiple discrepancies during an inspection at the Giaspura school in October last year. She alleged that attendance records from September 2024 did not match the e-Punjab portal, there was no proper timetable in place, stock registers for uniforms were incomplete, essential grant approvals for classroom renovations were missing and many classes lacked optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets for competency assessments. She said ‘chaotic classroom management’ indicated the school’s deteriorating administrative state.

Following these revelations, Rani was suspended in October 2024 and the assigned to GPS, Mattewara the next month. She did not assume charge and was issued a show-cause notice. She was then transferred to GPS, Sekhewal.

In January, the education department ordered another inquiry into alleged discrepancies in the food grain stock at GPS, Giaspura. The investigation found a mismatch between foodgrain stock of October 2024.