Lucknow: A teacher who was reportedly worked in 25 schools simultaneously earned over Rs. 1 crore in only 13 months despite digital attendance of teachers.
May sound impossible but she was a full-time science teacher employed in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), and was working simultaneously in multiple schools in districts such as Ambedkar Nagar, Baghpat, Aligarh, Saharanpur and Prayagraj, among others.
According to reports, Anamika Shukla was working in KGBV schools which is a residential setup for girls from weaker sections. In a district, each block has one KGBV. They paid approximately Rs 30,000 per month.
Despite real-time monitoring of teachers’ attendance, she was managed to pull off this for over a year. She has taken home Rs one crore as salary from these schools over 13 months till February 2020.
The matter came to light when a database of teachers was being created, which required teachers’ personal records, date of joining and promotions. When the records were uploaded, it is found that a teacher named Anamika Shukla, with same details, had been listed in 25 Schools.
Director-General of school education, Vijay Kiran Anand, said a probe is underway to ascertain the facts about this teacher who has gone incommunicado.
“It is surprising that the teacher, Anamika Shukla, was able to do this despite real-time monitoring of teachers’ attendance in UP primary schools,” Anand further added.
“How can a teacher mark her presence at several places even when they are supposed to mark their attendance online on the Prerna portal? It needs a thorough probe,” said the official who had first received a complaint about the teacher in March.
A native of Mainpuri, Anamika Shukla was last found working in Rae Bareli’s KGBV till February, when her forgery came to light.
The basic education officer in Rae Bareli, Anand Prakash, said that the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan office had issued a letter to six districts to check about a teacher named Anamika Shukla.
“Though Rae Bareli was not named in the list, we did cross-check and found the woman working at our KGBV also. A notice was issued to her but she did not report back. Her salary was immediately stopped,” he said.
He said that due to the lockdown, the inquiry could not proceed but now records will be verified. It is yet to be ascertained if Shukla was using the same bank account for salaries from different schools.