VACB recommends Kerala PSC to conduct aided-school appointments to stop corruption

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) has recommended that the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) make appointments in publicly funded government-aided schools to prevent corruption in postings.

The agency’s recommendations, conveyed to the government by VACB Director Manoj Abraham last week, come in the wake of “Operation Blackboard” in Kerala on November 11, targeting District Education Offices (41), Regional Deputy Director Offices (7) and Vocational Higher Secondary Education Wing Deputy Director Offices (7).

“Operation Blackboard” had found brazen falsification of admissions and attendance records at aided schools to preserve existing teaching positions and create new ones, in exchange for massive retention of job applicants and large kickbacks to corrupt officials in district education offices.

VACB also uncovered serious violations of legal reservation norms prescribed under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The agency insisted that aided school managements publish information on appointments in the disability category for official review to ensure compliance with the law.

VACB also recommended that the government use the Samanwaya Portal to track school appointments in real-time to detect any anomalies.

He also asked the government to insist that aided school managements publish students’ addresses, total student strength, number of approved departments and number of approved staff online on the sixth working day of every academic year.

Additionally, management must submit the information as an affidavit to the local VACB office to prevent manipulation.

The VACB recommended constitution of an independent team of competent General Education officers, recommended by the District Collector, to verify the number of students on which aided administrations rely to stabilize staff strength or justify their demands for new posts.

It was also recommended to constitute a Grievance Redressal Cell to address service-related grievances of school staff receiving assistance.

The VACB recommended that the government regularly rotate staff in charge of departments dealing with aided school appointments and personnel matters to prevent them from being corruptly linked to private managements.

During the operation, serious procedural violations were detected regarding appointments, organization of services, creation of staff, determination of staff strength according to the number of students and processing of service issues; This signaled a deep-rooted corrupt nexus between the authorities and private managements of government-aided schools in the state.