COMMITTEE TO PROBE ADMISSION SCAM IN BPL SEATS IN JAMSHEDPUR
JAMSHEDPUR: East Singhbhum district deputy commissioner (DC) has formed a three-member committee to investigate alleged admission scam against reserved seats under below poverty line (BPL) quota in about 60 private schools in lieu of hefty amount of money, officials said on Tuesday.
“DC Suraj Kumar has formed a three-member committee headed by additional district magistrate (ADM, Law and Order) NK Lal,” district public relation officer said on Tuesday.
The move came after a citybased non-governmental organisation submitted a detailed complaint in conncetion to the matter along with a sting video to the East Singhbhum DC and SSP last Saturday. The video showed one Deepak Dev striking deals to the tune of ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh per student on BPL quota seats in city-based schools
The DC has also directed to examine and verify all application forms submitted for admission in the 25% reserved BPL seats under RTE.
Besides, block development officers (BDOs) and circle officers (COs) and special officer and CEOs of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Mango Municipal Corporation (MMC) and Jugsalai Nagar Parishad (JNC) have been made accountable for scrutiny and verification of income, birth and caste certificates submitted along with admission applications.
Direction was also issued to officials concerned to initiate legal action against those found guilty of furnishing fake birth, caste and income certificates and government officials and staff responsible for such actions, the DPRO said. “Ghatsila and Dhalnhum SDOs will be monitoring the action taken on the probe reports,” he said.
Meanwhile, DSE Vineet Kumar said they have started scrutiny of caste, birth and income certificates submitted by parents along with applications for admission in the BPL quota seats. “Around 1,300 forms were distributed for admission against 2,000 BPL seats in 60 schools as of now. About 250 forms have been submitted for admission so far. A team is checking all the forms,” he said.
RANCHI: All 24 districts in the state may soon have a biodiversity park, as the state forest department has drafted a proposal in this regard and requested the state government to include the proposal in the upcoming budget for 2021-22, officials said on Sunday.
The parks would not only conserve species of rare, threatened and endangered plants of Jharkhand as well as the country but also attempt to increase the species’ population for rehabilitation to their natural habitats, officials said.
Principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF), Jharkhand, PK Verma, said, “We have proposed the scheme to be included in the upcoming budget. We will proceed as per the government’s direction.”
The scheme would be a statesponsored one. “According to
the allotment of the fund, we will decide the number of biodiversity parks to be developed in the coming financial year.”
On the question of the objective of biodiversity parks, Verma said, “Such parks help create awareness among people regarding forest and environment. Besides, it would also generate awareness toward conservation of rare and endangered plant species. We would conserve area-specific endangered
species in the proposed biodiversity parks.”
As per a report tabled by the central government in Rajya Sabha in 2016, Jharkhand has 64 plant species belonging to families of Fabaceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Apiaceae, Gentianaceae, Zingiberaceae, Rosaceae, Berberidaceae, Verbenaceae, Oleaceae, Orchidaceae, Droseraceae, Celastraceae, Commelinaceae, Salicaceae, Taccaceae and Violaceae.
The report also highlighted 36 animals and birds, including tigers, Ganga river dolphins, sloth bears, Asian elephants, Indian giant squirrels, flying squirrels, mouse dears, Egyptian vultures and Indian spotted eagles in the endangered category in Jharkhand.
Currently, there are two biodiversity parks in the state -one in Ranchi and another in Deoghar. State’s first biodiversity park at Lalkhatanga-Garkhatanga, around 16km from the state capital, was inaugurated in December 2012.
Built on an area of 542 acres of protected forest, the park has a medicinal garden, zone of indigenous species, zone of exotic species, grass zone, aquatic garden, conservatories and water harvesting.
The other biodiversity park in Deoghar has recently been built on 80 hectares of land surrounded by forests and mountains in Jasidih area.