Uttar Pradesh's primary school teacher, identified as Anamika Shukla aka Anamika Singh and finally Priya, who was found to be teaching simultaneously in 25 schools, not only has multiple jobs but also multiple identities.
Anamika was arrested on Saturday (June 6) from Kasganj district while she went to submit her resignation after she was served a show-cause notice by the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA), Anjali Agarwal. The police arrested Anamika after Agarwal informed them.
According to the Kasganj BSA, Anamika Shukla, originally a resident of Kaimganj in Farukhabad is currently doing her B Ed from the Raghukul Degree College in Gonda. Her other documents are also from the same college.
During interrogation, Anamika Shukla said that she was actually Anamika Singh but as questioning proceeded, it turned out that she was Priya from Farrukhabad.
The lady has been booked for cheating and forgery under IPC sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating).
According to the police, the woman claimed that she had paid Rs five lakh to a Mainpuri-based man to get this job.
She used Anamika Shukla's credentials to get the job while her real name is Priya, daughter of Mahipal, a resident of the Lakhanpur village of the Kayamganj police circle in Farrukhabad district.
Soron station house officer (SHO) Ripudaman Singh said, "During interrogation, the accused initially claimed to be Anamika Singh, daughter of Subhas Singh. However, her documents are in the name of Anamika Shukla, daughter of Subhas Chandra Shukla."
The accused claimed that she paid the hefty amount to Raj, a Mainpuri-based man for the job and was posted in Faridpur Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) since August 2018.
The police are now trying to zero in on the man who got her the job.
The police also believe that it could be possible that multiple candidates used credentials and 'eligibility' of Anamika Shukla - the real one still remains elusive.
According to the Uttar Pradesh government, five more Anamika Shuklas have been found working in KGBVs in Ambedkar Nagar, Baghpat, Aligarh, Saharanpur and Prayagraj districts. She has reportedly drawn a combined salary of Rs one crore in the past one year.
Teachers in KGBV, a residential setup for girls from weaker sections of the society, are appointed on contract and are paid approximately Rs 30,000 per month. Each block in a district has one Kasturba Gandhi school.
Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi said that the incident was 'shocking' and the police would unravel the entire racket in the case. "No officer, employee who connived with this teacher in providing her job at KGBV and subsequently hiding it, will be spared," he said.
The 'Prerna' app
The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on September 5 last year launched the 'Prerna' app, which marks the attendance of teachers, to ensure that teachers and students attend school regularly.
The initiative however was not welcome by the apex body of government primary school teachers as they pointed out the mobile application threatens the privacy of women teachers and is a violation of their fundamental right. The app requires all government teachers to click around three selfies taken at different times during working hours daily with the students and send them to the concerned authorities. Despite the Prerna app, how was the concerned teacher working in 25 schools simultaneously, is something that needs to be probed.
(With agency inputs)
