Thiruvananthapuram: Former general education minister V Sivankutty alleged corruption amounting to Rs 300 crore in UDF govt’s sanctioning of 300 additional higher secondary batches this year. Addressing the media on Monday, Sivankutty said the additional batches would create teaching vacancies, raising the possibility of corruption. Of the 120 additional HS batches sanctioned in govt/aided schools this year, 99 were allotted to schools in Malappuram. The batches were sanctioned predominantly in schools with links to IUML leaders, he alleged.“The private secretaries of IUML ministers were included in the panels that interviewed teaching staff for schools that received additional batches. This is an unprecedented and illegal move that smacks of corruption,” he alleged. Sivankutty said LDF govt had sanctioned additional batches only in govt schools but UDF govt changed that practice this year.“Additional batches led to the creation of new teaching vacancies. Each batch can create up to four teaching posts, apart from vacancies for non-teaching staff. It is in this context that govt’s decision to deploy the private secretaries of ministers has raised questions. They were included in the committees that selected candidates for the temporary vacancies created by the additional batches,” he claimed.
