Puri: Villagers at Kapilaswarpuru in the Puri district of Odisha nabbed a primary school teacher red-handed when he was selling textbooks meant for students to a scrap dealer. According to reports, the accused assistant teacher Basudev Swain tried to dispose of the textbooks when the school was closed for summer vacation.
Swain is an assistant teacher at Matha Kankuda Government Upper Primary School under Kapileswarpur Gram Panchayat.
According to reports, the school had a stockpile of textbooks in all the subjects for students from Class I to VIII. Swain tried to sell them as scrap for petty personal gains.
However, when asked about the reason behind selling the textbooks meant for the students, Swain said that he wanted to spend the money on school development work.
Talking to the media, the school committee president Gadadhar Nayak said he was at home when he received information that textbooks meant for students are being sold as scrap by a school teacher. He immediately rushed to the school to take stock of the situation.
The Assistant Education Officer Mamata Mishra said that proper action will be taken following an inquiry. “We have got information about the incident. Proper action will be taken against the teacher following a proper inquiry,” Mishra said.
According to the rules, even if the textbook is damaged, it cannot be sold as scrap. The damaged books are kept in stock or returned to the district office.