Pune: A chief clerk from the Directorate of Primary Education has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for accepting a bribe of ₹12,000 in exchange for approving grants under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The arrest took place on Wednesday (October 16) within the premises of the Central Government Building in Pune.
The accused, identified as Sunita Ramkrishna Mane, aged 46, was caught while accepting the bribe of ₹12,000. A case has been registered against her at the Bund Garden Police Station under the Anti-Corruption Act.
The complaint was filed by a school operator who runs two permanent unaided schools, offering classes from the first to the twelfth grade. The complainant’s schools had admitted students under the RTE scheme for the 2023-24 academic year, and the government was supposed to pay educational fees amounting to ₹12,69,000 for the eligible students.
In August 2024, the High Court directed that this amount should be paid to the respective school operators within an eight-week timeframe.
The Education Officer of Nashik subsequently issued orders for the payment to be processed. However, the chief clerk, Mane, demanded a 1% commission as a bribe on the amount before processing the payment. The school operator reported this illegal demand to the ACB.
Acting on the complaint, the ACB set up a trap and apprehended Mane as she accepted the bribe. The operation was executed under the guidance of Superintendent Shirish Sardeshpande and Additional Superintendent Dr. Sheetal Janve, with Deputy Superintendents Dayanand Gawde and Anil Katke leading the team.
