Lucknow: Believe it or not, but Mahatma Gandhi and Amitabh Bachchan are among the applicants for the posts of assistant teachers in the government schools in Uttar Pradesh.
“Mahatma Gandhi”, in fact, has topped the merit list with 94 per cent marks.
According to Basic Shiksha Adhikari for Lucknow, Praveen Mani Tripathi, more than 15 applicants have mentioned fake names in their applications. “One candidate’s name is ABC, while the father’s name is BCD.”
Some candidates have even used expletives instead of their original names — one such example is a topper in the female list.
The official said, “While preparing the merit list, we were shocked to find out the names like Mahatma Gandhi and Amitabh Bachchan. We have stalled the merit list and have set up a committee to scrutinise these applications. It is obvious that these are not serious candidates, and are playing pranks. However, we will deal with them firmly.”
Interestingly, at the time of counselling when documents are verified, none of these candidates turned up. Those who have qualified the Basic Teaching Certificate (BTC) are eligible for the job of assistant teacher in government schools.
In Uttar Pradesh, recruitments is being done for 16,448 posts, while in Lucknow, more than 800 applications have applied for 33 vacant posts.
(This story originally appeared in the Asian Age)
