Fake marksheet case: Odisha postmaster general recommends CBI probe

The Odisha postmaster general has recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the fake certificate racket that was revealed during recruitment of candidates for Grameen Dak Seva (GDS) service of Indian postal department.

The Odisha postal department will scrutinise mark sheets and certificates submitted by the GDS who were recruited after the selection process went online in 2018, a senior official said on Monday amid the ongoing probe into candidates who were appointed on fake certificates.

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Postmaster general Subhendu Swain said he has recommended for a CBI probe into the case.

The PMG’s recommendation for CBI probe came soon after the Odisha postal circle announced that marksheets and certificates submitted by the GDS who were recruited since 2018 will be scrutinised.

GDS employees are extra-governmental employees of the Indian postal department who work in rural post offices for a consolidated monthly pay of ₹12,000-16,000. “All candidates who have been working or waiting to be recruited would be investigated. Their mark sheet will be examined. Since 2018 was the year when recruitment for Grameen Dak Sevak jobs was made online, we have set 2018 as the cut-off year,” said S Barik, Director of Postal Service, Odisha.

Barik said the Department of Post shortlisted 1,380 candidates on the basis of marks obtained in their matriculation examination for Branch Post Masters, Assistant Branch Post Masters and Dak Sevaks in the Grameen Dak Sevak cadre.

The GDS employees are extra-governmental employees of the Indian postal department who work in rural post offices for a consolidated monthly pay of ₹12,000-16,000 till they retire at the age of 65 years.

GDS employees can be promoted as government employees in the postal department if they clear the departmental exam after serving for a few years.

Of the 1,380 candidates shortlisted for posts, many had produced certificates that they scored 100%, and dozens of others claimed to have secured 98%.

However, Rajendra Kumar Patnaik, superintendent of Bolangir Postal Division, found out that several candidates could not write basic words despite having scored over 90%.

In March, he filed a police complaint which was later taken up by the criminal investigation department (CID).

So far, 19 people including the main accused Manoj Mishra and his accomplice Alok Udgata, who ran a coaching centre in Bolangir town, have been arrested.

The two main accused are alleged to have told police that they had sold over 5,000 fake certificates for around ₹1-1.5 lakh.

In Jeypore town of Koraput district too, police arrested four persons who allegedly submitted fake certificates to get postal jobs.

The state school and mass education department has also asked all district education officers to examine certificates of teachers appointed on the basis of certificates from educational institutes of other states.

Odisha’s directorate of elementary education has told education officers at the district level to submit their report within two days.

“Action will be taken against the fake teachers on the basis of the reports,” said director of elementary education, Jyoti Ranjan Mishra.

Mishra said a total of 300 teachers who submitted fake caste certificates, birth certificates and educational qualification certificates have been identified and FIRs for the same has been registered.