Manipur’s War against corruption: What about the COHSEM affairs – KKL

IT News
Imphal, 7 Jan:
Kangleipak Kanba Lup Secretary General in a press release stated “it is with a deep sense of anguish that we are today raising doubts and questions on the declared statement of the Chief Minister on his “War on Corruption” as soon as he had assumed office in 2017.This is inter-alia the Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur (COHSEM) scam and the lack of response from the State Government as well as the COHSEM to the recent exposure of the misdoings of Lamabam Mahendra Singh the Chairman of COHSEM and his party.”
It was recently exposed both in the National as well as Local Media as to how against an unauthorized official notification of 19 Posts in the COHSEM in early 2019 the COHSEM’s Chairman had recruited 49 persons in excess of 30 persons altogether including his own daughter who has reportedly not attended office till date from her date of appointment. Also what was published was that a number of the persons employed illegally in excess are near relatives of the office bearers of the COHSEM including that of the Legal Advisor of the Council. And various charges were also levied against Mahendra of transfer of bribe money and the subsequent purchase and construction of a four storied house in Kwakeithel area of Imphal.
The statement further added “However to our dismay the above stated charges against the Chairman and his cohorts in the COHSEM have not been rebutted or contradicted till date .As such we would have to deem him and his party as guilty of the charges levied against them.”
In the meantime it has been brought to the notice of this Organization that Mahendra had of late invested a huge sum of money with a private Thoibi Housing Finance Company Ltd and had also sunk in money in real estate business having purchased a huge tract of land in Nongren near Lamlai numbering many Paris (Hectares).
Also he has already purchased answer sheets for the next five years amounting to approximately Rs.1.4 Crores although the established norm is for an annual placement of Order. Also he has printed and purchased examination forms for three years exceeding Rs.15 Lakhs against the same norm of yearly basts, the press statement added.
Also it has been noted that he had drawn more than Rs.1.5 Crores from the Corpus fund of the COHSEM for the construction of an extension of the present building which according to expert opinion will not be costing more than Rs.75 Lakhs. Co-incidentally the construction of his house at Kwakeithel happened at the same time.
It must be brought to the notice of the public at large that the COHSEM does not receive any Grant-in-Aid from the State Government but is solely managed on revenue generated from subscriptions and fees from students and the educational institutions. As such all expenditure to be meted out as salaries or constructions have to be meted out from this revenue generated
And also the hard fact is that the career of High School students will now be in the hands of the COHSEM following the implementation of the New Education Policy in India.
The press statement further stated “As such it is our contention that the state government should immediately remove mahendra from office and also institute a vigilance inquiry against him and the crime he has committed against the interest of the students community of manipur and the state at large. Failing which we may resort to various other tactics including general strikes/bandh.”