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NEWS ALERTS | UP school uniform Scam: Shocking findings
UP school uniform Scam: Shocking findings

UP school uniform Scam: Shocking findings

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published Published on Jun 24, 2015   modified Modified on Jul 8, 2015
 
Despite the provision of free school uniforms to be given to school children aged 6-14 years under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, when it comes to education department of Uttar Pradesh things are happening in the wrong way.

Officials working in UP's education department demand for commissions from uniform suppliers, reveals a Cobra Post sting. In order to know more, please read the press release from Cobra Post below.  
 
Uniform Uncivil Code: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

In a year-long investigation on dozens of education and district level officials in Uttar Pradesh, Cobrapost found that several hundred crores of rupees allocated by the government for providing dresses for school children in the state are being siphoned off by District Education Officers, Block Education Officers, Gram and Nagar Panchayat officials, among others. Even school teachers and headmasters manage to get a cut of the commission.

During the course of our lengthy investigation in over a dozen blocks of six districts in Uttar Pradesh, namely: Gautam Budh Nagar, Meerut, Hapur, Bagpat, Ghaziabad and Kanpur. Cobrapost correspondent Md. Hizbullah posed as a supplier of school uniforms and met several of these officials. What they had to say on hidden camera unearths a huge scam involving District Education Officers, Block Education Officers, Gram Nagar Panchayat officials and many others.

Incidentally, under the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution of India, the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, the government provides free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14 years. The main objectives of distribution of free uniforms is to retain children enrolled in schools until the compulsory stage and to bring quality among all children in schools. The Constitution of India also enables all children in the age group of six to 14 years to have a right to education as a Fundamental Right, apart from many other educational benefits. Officials seem to be unconcerned about what the Constitution says; they are more interested in using the free uniforms scheme to make a quick buck.

Hizbullah goes to Dhaulna in Hapur District to meet Block Education Officer M.K. Patel. Patel lays out his cards in the very first meeting and tells the correspondent: “Yeh batao aap… teacheron ki demand toh zyada hai… kaise hoga? 50-60 toh wohi maang rahe hai… Pichle saal bhi kiya tha usne woh 100 mein de raha tha… (You tell me.. teachers demand more… how can it be done? They are asking for Rs. 50-60. Last year he [supplier] was giving it for Rs. 100).” Patel is least concerned about the quality of the uniforms.

During the conversation, it also comes to light that last year, school uniforms were supplied for Rs. 120 each and a clear margin of Rs. 80 was given as commission on each one. Patel asks the correspondent to supply uniforms at the same price.

Next, the correspondent meets Block Education Officer Mamta Bharti of the Jewar Block in Gautam Budh Nagar. Bharti tell the correspondent that last time each school uniform was bought for Rs. 150. The correspondent strikes a deal with Bharti for Rs. 140 per uniform. So Bharti gets Rs. 50 as commission for each uniform a school buys. She also asks for an advance commission and says that the quality of the uniforms should be good. She also asks out correspondent to carry out the business on behalf of two to three firms so that no questions can be raised in case there is an investigation.

About the advance amount, Bharti says: “Aap jitna bhi total ho raha hai… 75 percent mein hi karwa do baki 25 percent baad mein aa jayega… usme 2-3 firm lagani hogi… basically 31 ke aas paas ka hai… wo 10-10 lakh ka work is tarah divide karna hai hame… 10-10 lakh ka kaam teeno firm ko chala jaye (Whatever the total is you pay us 75 per cent in advance rest 25 per cent will be done later. You have to put in two-three firms… the order is of around Rs. 31 lakh…we have to divide it in say Rs 10 lakh -10 lakh… all three firms will get work of Rs. 10 lakh each).”

During the investigation, the reporter also meets MC Sharma Block Education Officer of Baraut block in Baghpat. Sharma during the initial stages of the meeting clearly says that the commission on each uniform here is fixed at Rs.60.

When the reporter tells Sharma regarding his purpose of visit, Sharma says: “ Yaha ek cheez main bata du aapko… mere yaha poori pardarshita rehti hai… neeche kisi ko nahi batata hu… lekin jo unko milna hai… wo nischit hai… bilkul neeche se upar… top to bottom… hamara pehle kar deenge tay token money ke roop me… phir apna neeche apna karte huye chale jayege… phir jo hoga hisaab… aapke aur hamare beech mein ho jayega… (Let me tell you one thing. There is a total transparency. I don’t tell the subordinates. But what they get is fixed. From bottom to top. You will give our token money and pay the juniors as well… then whatever be the calculations… that will be taken care of within both of us)”

Sharma says: “Dekhiye main batau... headmaster ko apne aap dene hai... usko 30 rupayee dene hai... 10 dene hai 5 NBRC ko aur 5 rupayee BRC ko… shesh hamko karna hai… 80 rupayee mere… lekin wo mere aur aapke beech ki baatein hai… ( See I tell you. You will yourself have to pay the headmaster. You will give him Rs. 30.5 to NBRC and 5 to BRC. Rest you will give us. Rs 80 will be mine. But that will be between you and me)”

Still posing as a school uniform supplier, the Cobrapost correspondent then meets Arun Kumar, the Block Education Officer in Hapur Nagar. The correspondent tells Arun Kumar that he wants to strike a deal regarding school uniforms for 18,000 children in his block. Arun Kumar assures all help to the correspondent.

Arun Kumar says: “Aisa hai na… Isme bade uche pad ke adhikari isme jo hai block level hai na district level, state level ki bani hui hai taskforce nirikshan ke liye. Toh aisi cheez honi chahiye jisme koi dikkat matlab… koi jo hai us par… (The thing is that there is a task force comprising senior officials of the block, district and state level for inspection. So the things should be clear so that there are no problems later on…No one should raise questions).” What Arun Kumar wants are good quality uniforms at a cheap price.

While the government approved rate for each uniform is Rs. 200, we quote Rs. 130 per to Arun Kumar. The correspondent tells him that rest of the amount—Rs. 70 per uniform—can be divided as commission among government officials and teachers. Arun Kumar accepts and advises the correspondent to divide the billing amount on three different heads to indicate that the uniforms have been done supplied by three different firms.

Arun Kumar explains why he wants the billing to be done by three fictitious firms. “Ek school mein maan lo ek uska … ek uska kar ke alag alag school mein teen ka kam se kam…usko centralize nahi maana jayega aur teen jagah se kaam hoga… ek jagah… centralize maana jayega phir karwahi hai…(One school in that …one school in this… like this at least on three. That will not be considered centralised and work will be divided into three. If it’s at one place then it will be centralised and there can be inspection on it).”

When the correspondent asks him whether senior officials also get a cut in the deals, Arun Kumar says “from top to bottom, everyone wants a cut”.

Next is Ajay Kumar, Block Education Officer Seembhawali in Hapur district. The correspondent tells Kumar that he will charge Rs. 130 per school uniform, after which Kumar can sell each uniform at whatever rate he wants. Hearing this, Kumar says: “Teacher ka jaata hi hai… 30 rupayee baccha… yeh batao aap… 30 rupayee baccha yaha teacher leta hai (Teacher has his cut. 30 rupees per child. You tell us… Teacher takes Rs. 30 per child).” Ajay Kumar makes it clear that to strike a deal at his school, the correspondent will have to pay Rs. 30 for each dress to the teacher.

The correspondent assures Ajay Kumar that the interest of the teachers will be kept in mind. To know about the Block Education Officer’s modus operandi, the correspondent tells Ajay Kumar that if he wants the correspondent will issue a cheque of commission for Kumar and other teachers. Kumar turns down the proposal.

The Cobrapost correspondent also meets Madhulika Bajpayee, Block Education Officer of Navasta, Kanpur. Bajpayee, too is more interested in her share of commission and asks for an advance. When asked about the mode of payment, she says: “Payment ka mode yeh hai ki quotation yeh jo jai le aate hai jo firm hai teen, unke quotation li aapse… phir aadesh de diya kray…order de diya banwayi jab…payment hota hai… by cheque hota hai…cash nahi hoga…(The mode of payment shall be… quotation we bring say for three…we take it from you… then we give purchase order… when it is ready…the payment is made…it is through cheque and not by cash).” So to get the orders, a supplier can submit three quotations of which two will be fake and priced higher. The third will be from the ‘real’ supplier and it will be quoted at a lower price than the others, on which Bajpayee will give the purchase orders.

Continuing his investigation, Cobrapost’s Hizbullah meets Mithilesh Yadav, Block Education Officer of Prem Nagar, Kanpur, and tells him that he wants to get the tender for supplying school uniforms. Mithilesh Yadav replies that he cannot ensure the contract for all the schools in the block but will certainly clinch a deal with at least ten schools.

While the government is paying Rs. 200 per school uniform, Mithilesh Yadav readily accepts an offer for Rs. 165 per uniform. The remaining Rs. 35 for each uniform will be paid as commission. He says that officials in the department promote uniform suppliers.

After Mithilesh Yadav, the Cobrapost correspondent meets Nahida Begum, Block Education Officer of Bidhanu in Kanpur District. She tells the correspondent about the ways in which such contracts are awarded, how the billing is done and that local politicians and gram pradhans (village heads) are also involved in the scam. She says that commissions are paid to officials from the top to bottom, including school headmasters.

Nahida Begum also enlightens the reporter about uniforms which were supplied earlier. She says: “Humko maloom hai ki aap kisi bacche ka bhi nahi le sakte ho… wo sirf kehne ke liye naap hoti hai… us dhang se agar naap liya jaaye… wo number aa jaata hai… unhone daal diya ki itne bacche hai hamare… 30 number par aa gaye…itne 28 pe aa gaye… itne 32 pe aa gaye… (We knowthat you can’t take measurement of each and every child. That is only to say. If you take measurement (on an average) ... Some can fit in size 30… some in 28… while some in 32. Like this)”.

Enlightened by these revelations, Hizbullah meets Neeraj Kumar Rana, Block Education Officer of Dankaur in Gautambuddh Nagar with a proposal of supplying school uniforms in his block. Rana talks about cuts and commissions. Hizbullah tells Rana that he will supply uniforms at Rs. 120 to Rs. 200, on which Rana says that “here uniforms are supplied at around Rs. 160-170)”.

Rana also warns the correspondent that if he doesn’t get his cut the contract may be cancelled. He says that giving and taking a commission is normal practice. Rana wants an assurance that the quality of the uniforms will be good.

Rana also assures the ‘supplier’ of all help regarding recommendation and during inspection, if there is one in the future. Rana says: “Jis school mein aap de rahe ho to ek ka ho aisa na ho… ek ke bajaye do ka… actually inspection to hum hi nahi karenge… district level ki team bhi karti hai (The school where you are giving… you should give it into two [bills]. Actually the inspection will not be done only by us but by district level team as well).” Rana asks the Cobrapost correspondent to bring two samples the next day so that he can recommend him to schools and officials.

Next, our correspondent meets Vinod Kumar, Block Education Officer of Jani district in Meerut and his deputy Premchand. Vinod Kumar makes it clear that everything is possible for a commission. He says that a contract to supply uniforms to schools in an entire block cannot be given to one firm. Premchand tells our ‘supplier’ to give quotations in the name of three firms to cover schools in the entire block.

So our ‘supplier’ can get the contract for all the schools in the entire block if he gives quotes for uniforms in the name of two firms, asks our correspondent. Vinod Kumar says: “Two firm haan… hum nyay panchayat car aapko dilwa deenge job hi nyay panchayat me milwayenge hum yeh chahenge ki har nyay panchayat mein 1-1; 2-2 ke jo hai mix ke lag jaye (Yes two firms… I will arrange a Nyay Panchayat car for you. When I introduce you in the Nyay Panchayat I want you to mix (the firms trying to get the contracts) in one-one, two-two).”

Like some others, Vinod Kumar also asks for advance commission.

Vinod Kumar also offers to get the ‘supplier’ school uniform contracts in other blocks in about 20-22 schools, for a commission. He tells the ‘supplier’ to quote Rs. 160 per uniform. He will do the job for a cut of Rs. 25 per uniform, he says. When our correspondent asks him about the progress on the earlier “contracts”, Vinod Kumar demands another Rs. 8 per uniform for the deal.

Next, our correspondent goes to meet Renu Yadav, Block Education Officer of Razapur Block in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. He meets Renu Yadav’s secretary Hanif and lays down his business proposal. Hanif says that the going rate for each uniform is Rs. 160. He says: “Rs. 160 with dupatta… boys ka Rs. 150 (Rs. 160 with dupatta for girls and for boys Rs. 150)”.

During the same meeting, Renu Yadav says that she has five Nyay Panchayat Resource Centres (NPRC) under her jurisdiction under which almost 10,000 school uniforms are required. She assures all help to the ‘supplier’ to bag the contract. She says: “Hamare NPRC mein kam se kam 10, 000 bacche hai… ek NPRC ki baat kara denge (There are atleast 10, 000 children in our NPRC. I can talk about one NPRC).” And she will take the commission in cash. Hanif wants an assurance of secrecy and insists that “behenji’s” name should not figure anywhere.

Next in line is S.K. Karadu, district Education Coordinator of Gautam Buddh Nagar. Eager for his cut, Kiradu agrees to recommend the ‘supplier’ to officials. He syays that he will contact the ‘supplier’ when the tender process begins and will extend all help.

Though Kiradu doesn’t quote his price, he talks about the teachers’ cuts. He says: “Mere khyal se 20-30 rupaye hota hai inka per dress (I think it is Rs. 20-30 on each dress for them).

However, not all Block Education Officers are corrupt. In Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bhuwan Prakash , Block Education Officer of Dadri turned down the offer for a cut in exchange of the deal.
 
 
For more information, please click here.  

Image Courtesy: Uttar Pradesh Primary Education Department, http://bed.up.nic.in/ 
 

Cobra Post, 23 June, 2015, http://cobrapost.com/index.php/news-detail?nid=8854&cid=23


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