Four lakh "fake" students were enrolled in Haryana gov't schools in 2016?

Fake students?

On June 28, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR with regard to four lakh fake students who had enrolled in Haryana's government schools in the year 2016, shared officials.

On the orders of the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, the case was handed over to the CBI. This happened on November 2, 2019, the officials informed, according to a report by PTI.

It was the CBI who had approached the apex court informing them that the probe might require more manpower and hence, should be handed over to state police. Once the CBI registered the FIR, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition.

Over 22 lakh students in various classes, that's how many students were reportedly in government schools, but only 18 lakh were actually found and upon that, four lakh registrations were fake, the apex court was informed.

The court was also informed that a few benefits were extended to students from marginalised backgrounds to motivate them to enroll in school.

The high court had directed a senior officer from the state vigilance to look into fake enrollments and subsequent siphoning off of funds for non-existent students. Seven FIRs were registered by the state. In the year 2019, the high court noted that the process of registration of FIRs was "very slow".

Then CBI was handed over the case and was asked to file a status report in three months time.