– Ronita Torcato

Action has been taken against 23 schools in Jalna, Beed and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts of Maharashtra for submitting fake certificates to the state government, and failing to provide students if any with food and accommodation, despite receiving government grants, Other Backward Classes welfare minister Atul Save said in the Legislative Assembly.

A government notification to cancel the recognition of the 23 schools was issued on September 1 by the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, he said, adding that affected students were accommodated in other schools.

Swami Vivekananda Global School and Junior College, Asegaon, and Galaxy International School in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar are just two of the schools that obtained grants for non-existent students and hostels.

“One school against whom an order was issued is the Marathi medium institution run by Vidya Shakti Shikshan Prasarak Mandal in Hingoli district, where henceforth, new students will not be enrolled without verification,” Save informed legislators.

He was responding to Tanaji Mutkule who had made a statement regarding the introduction of English in the Late Lakhan Sarjerao Naik School, a Marathi medium institution located in the Kolsa- Shegaon area.

Responding to Mutkule as well as Babasaheb Deshmukh, Prashant Bamb and Sanjay Kute, minister Save pointed out that the Raje Yashwantrao Holkar English Medium Residential School Scheme is run by the government’s Other Backward Classes Welfare Department.

Launched in 2024, the Raje Yashwantrao Holkar Scheme provided free English-medium education, boarding and lodging to students from the Dhangar community in classes 1–8 in 73 schools across the Marathwada region of the state.

Save said a number of schools have been accused of falsifying documents, showing that the Marathi medium school is an English medium school. On receiving a complaint about inflation of students, the department had conducted an inspection and found “a huge discrepancy” in the attendance. Notices have been issued to the concerned schools in the matter; a thorough investigation will also be conducted by the Other Backward Classes Welfare Department, he said.

After thorough investigation, the school’s recognition will be cancelled, and government funds obtained through bogus certificates will be recovered and a criminal case registered, the Minister said.

Action will also be taken against guilty officials, Save said.

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