The school education department has written to the heads of all institutions to remain vigilant about any alleged irregularities in a scheme to transfer money to the accounts of all plus-II students so they can buy smartphones or tablets.
The letter was sent days after the East Midnapore district administration lodged a police complaint against the headmasters of four schools after it emerged that the students’ list had been manipulated and the money transferred to the accounts of unauthorised persons.
The letter, sent through the respective district inspectors of schools to the heads of the institutions, says: “It is known that for a particular district, a number of ineligible persons have received the amount of financial assistance for procurement of tablet under Taruner Swapna scheme. It is a serious matter and needs to be ascertained if there is a conspiracy/mala fide intentions.”
“So it is possible that such incidents may occur in our district also. Immediate FIR should be lodged in such cases and a detailed report should be submitted to the Commissioner, School Education, through DI/S. All HOIs (heads of the institutions) are requested to please get information to ascertain whether such incidents have occurred in their respective schools.”
The scheme, launched by chief minister Mamata Banerjee during the Covid pandemic, gives ₹10,000 to all Class XI students at government and government-aided schools to buy a smartphone or a tablet for digital learning.
This year, the state government allocated ₹1,300 crore for the scheme, which will benefit 16 lakh students. The authorities started disbursing the money in early October.
After the schools reopened on November 4 following the Puja break, it emerged that money had been transferred to the bank accounts of several unauthorised persons.
An official in the school education department said the school heads upload the details of the bank account of each student on the department’s portal to facilitate the transfer of money.
The school heads give an undertaking that the details entered into the system are correct.
“There are bound to be questions if there are so many instances of unauthorised transfer of money. In East Midnapore, at least 14 complaints have been received. There are similar complaints in East Burdwan, too. So the government has alerted all school heads asking them to remain vigilant,” the official said.
An official in the district inspector of schools in Calcutta said similar complaints have been received in the city, too.
“The schools must approach the police if there is any hint of discrepancy,” the official said.
Swapan Mandal, general secretary of the Bengal Teachers’ and Employees’ Association, said: “It is not clear why a scheme that was launched to enable students to attend online classes during the pandemic-induced shutdown of campuses is still being continued, long after the resumption of in-person classes. The money could have been used to improve the infrastructure of the schools.”