District officials in Palamu reject corruption allegation, Deputy Commissioner orders investigation.
The stillbirth of a government school teacher’s baby after a prolonged delay in the processing of her leave application has triggered allegations of bribery against officials of the education department in Jharkhand’s Palamu. While the district administration ordered an inquiry, it rejected the family’s allegations of corruption.
Bharti Pandey, a teacher at Plus Two High School, Tarhasi, who was on deputation at Kasturba Gandhi CM Excellence School, Chainpur, had applied for child care leave (CCL) on July 3.
Her husband, Mukesh Kumar Tiwari, a police officer posted in Hazaribagh, alleged that staff from the district education department demanded a bribe of nearly Rs 50,000 to process the application, forcing his wife to continue travelling in the final weeks of her pregnancy.
On July 25, she was admitted to Sona Nursing Home in Medininagar, where doctors declared that the foetus had died in the womb.
