Imphal, May 20: Following the punishment of three officials of the Education Department by the KYKL for masterminding the fake appointments of 49 teachers, DESAM and MUSU today said that the Education Minister Francis Ngajokpa, Commissioner and Director should resign on moral ground.

Going hammer and tongs against the State Government, DESAM in a statement said that fake appointments in the Education Department is not something new but despite this the Government has done precious little to nail the culprits.

Many committees have been formed to investigate the cases of fake appointments but till date no one has been booked or hauled up, said DESAM and added that this shows the inertia of the Govt to tackle the matter with a firm hand.

Even in the most repressive of regimes such Hitler's Germany and Saddam Hussein's Iraq, education was always given the top most priority but here despite an elected Government, some lumpen elements, in connivance with high ranking officials, are defiling the Education Department, it said.

This is what is most reprehensible, said DESAM and added that there can be no greater crime than defiling Education, which is the pillar of the society to mould the future.

To many, the Education Department has become a ground to earn easy money on the sly, dealing a death blow to education and to the future of the youngsters.

The fake appointment cases also involve officials of the Accountant General and the Treasury and it is in collaboration with such corrupt officials that the fake appointments were made, charged DESAM.

Crores and crores of rupees are spent to meet the salaries of the fake teachers, not to speak of their arrears, GP and other allowances.

The result is that money which should be utilised to improve the infrastructure of schools are being spent on paying these bogus teachers, said the student body.

Striking the same tone as DESAM, Manipur University Students' Union also said that the Education Minister should resign on moral ground.

In a statement, the student body said that the Government has not shown the will and the inclination to cleanse the rot within the Education Department and warned that if the indifference continues, then students may take the matter into their hands and start a series of destructive agitation.

There should be no pardon for anyone found defiling the sanctity of the Education Department, said MUSU.

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