Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) members lock a zonal education office in Manipur
Ten MLAs of the Kuki tribes in Manipur have asked Home Minister Amit Shah to cancel the suspension of three education officers, who face disciplinary action over alleged fraud in clearing requests by 26 schools for CBSE affiliation.
In a letter to Mr Shah, the 10 MLAs said the three officers issued no-objection certificates (NOCs) to the schools that applied for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliation after May 3, the day ethnic violence broke out between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis.
The 26 schools are in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, both hill districts.
The CBSE's bylaws make it a legal requirement for state board schools to get NOCs from the state government before applying for central board affiliation. The Manipur government, before informing the central board about the alleged fraud, had announced that it had not given NOCs to any school since May 2020.
The district-level zonal officers do not have the authority to issue NOCs to schools without the knowledge of the Education Department, the state government had said, and formed a committee to investigate the alleged paperwork fraud.
The 10 MLAs, who have also been demanding what they call a "separate administration" carved out of Manipur, in the letter to the Home Minister said the three education officers acted in the best interests of students and schools amid the violence in the past eight months. The students lost precious months of the academic year, the MLAs said, adding the CBSE should re-affiliate the 26 schools and the three suspended officers should be called back to duty.
The attempt by the 10 MLAs to rescue the three officers who are under investigation is "absurd", an education department officer told NDTV on phone from Imphal today. "They should let the investigation complete. There is a process; there is documentary evidence. No one can short-circuit due process, and later claim innocence before investigation is complete," said the officer, requesting anonymity.
The three suspended officers are Churachandpur ZEO Jangkhohao Haokip, Kangpokpi ZEO Lhingtinneng, and L Taithui, Deputy Inspector of Schools in the Samulamlan block of Churachandpur ZEO.
The change of the education board from state to central in the two "hill districts" was seen as a soft attempt at formalising a new arrangement, since the clashes began in May 2023.
A Kuki student group in Sadar Hills has sealed the offices of the Kangpokpi ZEO, and the deputy inspector of schools of Saitu and Saikul in protest against the government action. The group wrote "Office sealed by KSO-SH until suspension order is revoked" on sheets of paper and pasted them at the gates of the three government offices.
The student body in a statement appealed for a "swift and impartial investigation into the allegation against Lhingtinnneg Singsit", and the officer who replaced Singsit won't be allowed to work till their demand is met.
In Churachandpur, none of the four newly affiliated schools - before they lost affiliation - had working phone numbers. One had only '0000' as the contact number. Not having working phones and having inconsistent details such as the phone number or address of the principal turning out to be of a relative are violations of the CBSE's bylaws for affiliation.
The Kangpokpi school principals had in December 2023 criticised what they called the authorities' "obtuse focus" on procedures when all that the students needed amid the ethnic clashes and other cataclysmic disruptions was academic continuity, whether CBSE or state board.
At least seven school principals in Kangpokpi district told NDTV on December 20 that their ZEO, who worked under the education department, gave the NOCs.
"The situation in Manipur after May 3 was such that functioning under the state board was becoming impossible. We have to go to Imphal for exam coordination and other state board work. How would that be possible?" one of the principals of a Kangpokpi school freshly affiliated with the CBSE - which was unaffiliated later - had told NDTV on phone in December. The other principals declined to be named.
They repeatedly cited difficulty in coordinating with the education department at a time when battle lines have been clearly drawn on the basis of ethnicity and deep mistrust.
The state government was clear, however, that action would be taken against schools including withdrawing their affiliation if any of them was again found not following due process.
"The principals are not thinking right. What are they implying? Short-circuit administrative processes amid the unfortunate outbreak of violence? No one said NOC won't be given. All of us work for students. Questionable and unethical decisions by some school administrations can't be allowed to harm the future of students," a senior officer in the education department who was among a small team that looked into the initial investigation in the CBSE affiliation matter told NDTV on December 20, requesting anonymity.