CBI files cases against 21 educational institutions in Andhra, Telangana

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed criminal cases against 21 educational institutions in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and many officials from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), which is an autonomous body under the Union HRD Ministry.

According to a report in DNA, the agency, after checking records of 600 institutions recognised to run teacher training programmes, found major discrepancies in their documents.

NCTE is responsible for according recognition to these institutions, after its officials inspect the infrastructure and academic facilities there.

According to the NCTE mandate, for admitting 50 students, a college should have a minimum built-up area of 15,000 sq m and land area of 2,500 sq metres, including parking space. However, the 21 institutions against which cases have been filed, do not have these mandatory facilities, said the report.

Some institutions have even provided bogus addresses and others do not even have a building, said the report.

These institutions are in Bengaluru, Bijapur, Hubli and Chitradurga in Karnataka and Madnapalle, Guthkal, Tadipatri, Kurnool, Nandiyala, Nandikotkur, Dharmavaram, Chittoor, Karveti Nagaram and Kadappa in Andhra Pradesh.

Some of the institutes are Kalidas Training Teacher Education in Karnataka, IBMR College of Education in Hubli, Aditya College of Education in Bengaluru, SAS college of Education in Nandikotkur in Andhra, said the report.

"In spite of several irregularities, they were granted recognition by the NCTE for the academic year 2016-17," the FIR says.

Officials of the NCTE have thus been booked for for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and criminal misconduct.