In a press release issued by the Department of Education of Manipur, the government has stated that it has not issued any no objection certificate (NOC) for the affiliation of any schools since May 2023.
This press release issued by the state was in response to a post on X by a Dr Lamtingthang Haokip claiming that 20 educational institutes in Churachandpur and 16 from Kangpokpi were recently affiliated with the CBSE.
Alarming ‼️
— Treeni (@_treeni) December 17, 2023
Manipur: 30+ illegitimate CBSE schools found, distorting history and furthering identity politics.
The institutes got fake NOCs by forging signatures of the Zonal Education Officer, who are nevertheless allowed to issue NOC certificates.
The issue became… pic.twitter.com/iyZq8W6GDw
The press release dated 14th December read, “Apropos the post of Dr. Lamtingthang Haokip on X dated 14.12.2023 claiming that 20 Educational Institutions from Churachandpur and 16 from Kangpokpi respectively are affiliated to the CBSE, it is to clarify for general information that the State Government has not issued any NOC for affiliation with CBSE to any of the educational institutions in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi Districts since May 2023.”
? Forgery to get CBSE affiliation❓️
— Manipur Times (@ManipurTimes) December 17, 2023
❗️ 20 educational institutions from Churachandpur and 16 from Kangpokpi gets CBSE affiliation, without mandatory state NOC. #Manipur Education Minister @thbasantasingh clarifies State Govt has not issued any NOC since May 3, 2023. Yet… pic.twitter.com/I3UphmHVzY
According to reports, an initial probe into the report of several schools getting NOC revealed that fake NOCs with forged signatures of Zonal Education Officers (ZEO). Reports quoting sources said that an official team led by state education minister Th Basanta Kumar looked into the issue.
The team found that some schools from Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts were found processing affiliation with the CBSE. Of these, 10 schools received affiliation a few months ago before violence broke out and 15 schools during the violence period.
The official team inquired with the ZEOs about the matter over the phone. The ZEOs responded saying that they had not issued any NOC for any school and added that the NOC must be fake and signatures forged.
Sources reportedly said that further probe is underway to find the persons responsible for the forging of signatures on the fake NOCs.
Moreover, ZEOs are not authorised to issue NOCs as approval of the minister and concerned commissioner is mandatory. The government is also probing the ZEOs to establish whether they are lying or not.
Meanwhile, Haokip in his X post after the press release stated that this is a “diversionary tactic orchestrated by the N Biren Singh government”.
He said that he along with two more people namely Th. Brindan and JNIMS are being made easy targets in order to avoid backlash for the 60 Kuki-Zo and 4 Meitei victims of violence in the state.
“Regarding the social media post about CBSE School Affiliations, it is available on the official website of CBSE for verification. There is no mention of NOC in my social media post yet my name is being taken to create confusion and enmity.+,” he said in his post.
