UP teacher fakes Covid to skip poll duty, FIR ordered
An FIR has been ordered against a government school teacher Pilbhit district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly submitting a forged Covid-19 positive medical certificate to skip election duty in the upcoming municipal elections in the state, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official, Ritu Tomar, a teacher posted at a government-run primary school in Pachpeda village of Puranpur block, submitted a fake medical certificate that declared her Covid-19 positive in an attempt to ge exemption from election duty in the upcoming municipal polls.
CDO Pilibhit, Dharmendra Pratap Singh said that orders have been issued to the police to file an FIR against Ritu Tomar for forgery.
The senior official said that Tomar had been assigned as the polling officer II in the polling party number three at the pink booth in the municipal elections scheduled to be held on May 11.
Tomar filed an application seeking exemption from election duty on health grounds, claiming that she had tested positive for Covid-19 and submitted a medical certificate as proof.
However, upon closer inspection of the medical certificate by officials, the document was found to be forged as Tomar had allegedly edited the certificate of another person to present herself as Covid positive and seek exemption from election duty.
Following the revelation, disciplinary action was initiated against the teacher for dereliction of duties while Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) Amit Kumar Singh was issued an order to register an FIR against her for forgery and fraud in connection with the case, the CDO said.
However, it wasn’t revealed if the erring teacher has been suspended or removed from her post.
Election duty is mandatory for any and all government officials if and when assigned and any dereliction on the employees’ part can invite serious consequences, including removal from services and even a jail term if the reason for exemption is found to be fake.
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