Overcharging fee: Vigilance dept starts inquiry

CHANDIGARH: UT vigilance department has officially started an inquiry against the suspended principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 45, Alka Mehta, and four other teachers, to find if there was any criminal angle to their alleged action of overcharging Rs 5 each from students there.
Sleuths of the department have also summoned Mehta for detailed questioning.
Mehta and the teachers - Narendra Shastri, Neelam Thakur, Sheo Ram and Surinder Kaur - were suspended and put under the charge of district education officer last month, after students’ parents protested in the school against the excessive fees. Home secretary Ram Niwas had ordered the vigilance probe.
A senior vigilance official said SDM (south) Prerna Puri’s inquiry had confirmed that the extra amount had been taken from the students in violation of norms. The inquiry had also found that Shastri had beaten students and forced them to sign documents stating they had not paid in excess of set fee.
A vigilance official said students’ parents would also be asked about the happenings.
Sources said vigilance inquiry would not rely on Puri’s report and would be a thorough investigation on its own. ‘The probe’s findings will decide if any criminal cases are to be registered for this,’ he mentioned. School staff has been told to deposit documents relating to overcharging.