The rich who bought poverty: Wealthy parents and officials face action after Mail Today exposes fake certificates being used for school admissions

Ramesh Kumar (name changed) stays with his family in a plush apartment in upscale Gulmohar Park. He sends his daughter to one of the best schools in the city in his luxury car, but does not spend a penny towards her school fees.

Meet the poor rich beneficiaries of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the National Capital.

They have all the comforts and luxuries in the world besides a government certificate endorsing their 'poor status'.

Touts usually approach prospective clients at shops such as these that provide typed affidavits and help finish legal formalities

An internal probe being carried out by the Delhi government has revealed several 'glaring cases' where persons, not even remotely disadvantaged, have procured the EWS certificates and are using them to avail subsidised education for their children in some of the top public schools in the city.

Two separate Delhi government departments – education and revenue – are now ascertaining the exact number of such students and the veracity of these 'prima facie howlers'.

While it is clear that the government officials who approved the 'undeserving' candidates for EWS certificates will face criminal prosecution, it is also being examined if the parents, who actually procured the document, can be prosecuted.

As for the students admitted to schools on the basis of such false EWS certificates, the most 'prevalent' view among senior government officials is that they should be allowed to continue if their guardians pay the general category fee for the entire duration of their schooling as an EWS student. Most of the false EWS certificates were used by parents to admit their children in the academic session 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The schools which admitted such students, however, will not face any action as they accepted a genuine certificate provided by the state government.

Mail Today managed to access some of the EWS certificates and the attached verification reports that are now being probed.

The EWS or income certificates are meant for families with less than Rs 1 lakh annual earning.

It allows the beneficiaries In Ramesh Kumar's case, the surveyor found him to be staying in Gulmohar Park for over 20 years and recommended rejection of his application.

Despite this, the applicant was issued the certificate by the authorities. In another case, the verification official went to F-block in Lado Sarai, south Delhi, and rejected the case.

He cautioned: 'Applicant has given Lado Sarai address only for admission purpose.' The story is no different in another case in Lajpat Nagar II where the verification official observed that the applicant was staying in an 'upper middleclass locality and the standard of living was good'. He wrote in his report that the applicant pretended to belong to the lower income group, but the ground reality was totally different.

Delhi's divisional commissioner Vijay Dev admitted that such irregularities had come to light and promised prompt and severe action.

'All these glaring cases came to our notice only recently and a probe is on to identify the culprits,' Dev said.

He questioned the logic behind issuing EWS certificates to candidates who 'didn't even get a favourable verification report'.

'In all such cases, prima facie, it seems that action can be taken against the local administrative staff for issuing such certificates. Given the importance of the issue, it was recently raised at a meeting with the education department and we will jointly address it in a few days,' Dev said.

According to sources, the education department too has made a tentative list of students with an 'iffy' EWS background.

'The list was made after schools and others noticed certain EWS candidates coming to school in private cars,' a senior education department official said.

Senior government officials said before any action is taken or announced, the suspects would be given a 'fair hearing and a chance to explain'.

If they fail, they would face action. Delhi chief secretary P.K. Tripathi, too, accepted that it was a serious issue and assured strict action in all such cases that came to the government's notice.

'In future, we can also examine the possibility of making the process of issuing EWS certificates a bit stricter through involvement of gazetted officers to ensure that such government facilities are availed of by the right candidates,' Tripathi said.

Mail Today had recently exposed how the EWS certificates could be bought for just Rs 5,000.

In order to get these certificates, one would have to go through an extensive network of touts that is forever present around the offices of the subdivisional magistrate and district collector in the city. access to several government schemes and benefits.

An underprivileged family can apply for the EWS certificates at the local sub-divisional magistrate's office on a plain paper, accompanied by an affidavit and Delhi residence proof.

Each of these applications is verified by the local office staff who make a visit to the address to ascertain the claim of the applicant.