Assam: Gauhati High Court directs CAG to probe irregularities in SSA

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: An order passed in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Gauhati High Court is likely to unearth a multi-crore scam in Samagra Shiksha, Assam (SSA). The HC order has instructed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to probe in detail the charges of financial irregularities in SSA and forward them to the departments concerned for expeditious action against guilty officials.

The HC conducted a hearing of a PIL case (23/2021) filed by an organization named Amguri Nabanirman Samity against financial irregularities in SSA, formerly called Sarba Shiksha Abhiyan, in the period from 2011 to 2019. The CAG conducted a preliminary audit and found irregularities in 41 missions under SSA, which included salaries to non-existent teachers, infrastructure-related irregularities, and material purchase irregularities. The petitioner filed the PIL on the basis of the CAG report. The report was accessed by the petitioner after filing a Right to Information (RTI).

The counsel representing the petitioner, advocate A. R. Bhuyan, explained that various materials like chalk, exercise copies, etc. were purchased at exorbitant rates. For example, a copy costing Rs 5 was billed Rs 20, Bhuyan said.

The petitioner asked the government to take action, but nothing was forthcoming. So, the PIL was filed in 2021, he said.

Later, CAG dropped 21 charges for not being correct. However, no report was submitted by SSA on the remaining 20 charges, the HC stated.

In light of the facts, the HC disposed of the PIL with a direction to the CAG to examine in detail the rest of the charges. If the charges are found to be correct, the CAG is to inform the departments concerned regarding the irregularities and ask the departments to initiate action against the erring officials 'expeditiously'.

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