Govt to verify fake EWS certificates

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi, July 01, 2012

Unable to secure admission in nursery under the general category, a number of parents have allegedly submitted fake income certificates to get their child a seat under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) slot.

The Education Department and Revenue Department of Delhi government have received a number of complaints from schools and parents in this regard.

In order to check this trend, the Revenue Department has now decided to verify income certificates submitted by parents in schools at the time of admission. If any discrepancy is found, admission of the student will be cancelled.

"Schools have directly sent a majority of the certificates to the authorities concerned to check whether they are genuine or not. Some schools have submitted up to 1,000 certificates to the sub-divisional-magistrates," said a senior Delhi government official.

The Education Department too has received complaints, which have been forwarded to the Revenue Department for investigation.

"We will collect data from schools and scan every detail, including the name of the authority who has issued it. To ensure transparency, checking of certificates will be carried out by an officer of a different zone," said a senior Delhi government officer. There are more than 4,200 schools in the city, including government schools.

Officials added that the certificates would be scrutinised to find out if one officer has made several income certificates for some particular schools.

"We will upload every detail given in the income certificates online under a uniform pattern. When we find any discrepancy in the records, we will be able to nail them. There can be a possibility that parents got fake certificates made and submitted them to schools," added the official.

Criminal action will be taken against parents who have forged certificates.

According to a Delhi government notification, a child belonging to a economically weaker section means a child whose parents have a total annual income of less than Rs. 1 lakh and who have been staying in Delhi for the past three years.