“We had to meet the minister after secretary at the education ministry, who is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the school, didn´t respond to our petition filed on June 28,” said BSSU Secretary Mukunda Bahadur Koirala.
Koirala said they submitted a formal complaint against the principal along with proofs to the minister, who is also a patron of the school. “I will consult with lawyers and decide what type of action to take in the next 3-4 days,” Koirala quoted the minister as saying.
Principal Sharma, however, remained defiant and said the union was blackmailing him and conspiring to defame him without even thinking about the school´s prestige. “They have lodged a complaint. I have done nothing wrong. I am ready to be punished if found guilty,” Sharma maintained.
He said he also has proofs in his support when informed about the union´s claim of having proofs of his alleged forgery. “I also have proofs. They may have interpreted and presented them differently,” he said. Reiterating that he is not guilty Sharma talked about options if he gets punished, hinting that he would seek legal remedy.
The union has accused Sharma of drawing government pension for the past four years on the basis of forged documents. It claims that Sharma is receiving government pension despite joining Budhanilkantha School 25 years back, which effectively means termination of his government job.
“Sharma was deputed to AVM School by the education ministry till he joined Budhanilkantha. But once he joined Budhanilkantha, he effectively is out of the government job as per the regulations of the school which doesn´t allow a staff to do any side-jobs,” BSSU Vice-president Narayan Man Shrestha argued.
“Besides he has been regularly serving the school and is liable to get gratuity according to regulations. He never served in any government school in the intervening period. But he claimed government pension four years ago fictitiously resigning from Shree Mahakali Devi Secondary School in Lalitpur, which on its part has said that it has never dealt with Sharma,” Shrestha claimed.
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