By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Despite the Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court giving six months’ time since August last for the Screening Committee of the Education department to complete the task of correcting the anomalies in the appointment of school teachers, the probe is still in limbo.
An official source said on Friday that being unable to complete the task within February, the Education department recently filed a petition in the Court seeking extension of time for the Committee, but the Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court is yet to sit to consider the matter.
According to sources, the Committee dilly-dallied on the probe resulting in the Education department seeking an extension for the Committee which did not make any headway on its task of completing the probe in time.
After the CBI unearthed large scale irregularities in the appointment of school teachers in the State, the Government instead of taking action based on the CBI findings, went ahead and filed a petition before the Division Bench for the constitution of the Committee to further examine the matter.
Later, the Court in its hearing in August last asked the Education department to institute the Committee and submit the report within six months. The three-member Screening Committee includes EP Kharbhih, Secretary, Education department as Chairman, CCM Mihsil, Joint Secretary, Education department and P Ryngksai, Deputy Director, Directorate of School Education and Literacy, as members.
The members began their task in September last.
The critics had earlier pointed out that the constitution of the Screening Committee was aimed at buying more time.
The ‘scam’ took place during the tenure of the then Education Minister and presently the Urban and Municipal Affairs Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh, but she did not take any moral responsibility.