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Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 14
Five Class IV employees were found absent while their attendance was marked in school records during a raid conducted on Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, by a team headed by the UT District Education Officer today.
According to sources, these employees, all men, had been allegedly forced by school principal Chitranjan Singh to toil on his personal agricultural land.
Requesting anonymity, the sources said the principal “marks fake attendance of the Class IV employees and sends them to his agricultural land on a daily basis”. One of the employees complained of severe backache because of the work assigned to him by the principal and “substantiated his claims” before the DEO.
During the raid, the school was found in a dilapidated condition and no cleanliness was maintained despite the Education Department having issued advisories to the school from time to time. The missing employees jumped the school wall from the rear end of the building after receiving a tip-off about the raid and confronted the DEO.
School principal Chitranjan Singh said, “I was on leave today and I have no idea why this was planted against me. The employees had gone to purchase flower pots for the school garden. The school is being looked after by me on a regular basis and I don’t own any agricultural land.”
The sources said the principal had allegedly misbehaved with teachers at a school in Sector 38 where he was posted earlier. DEO Anujit Kaur refused to comment on the issue. However, she confirmed that a random check was conducted at the school. Kaur said, “The matter is under scrutiny.”
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