Four newly-appointed postmasters in Odisha under scanner over fake certificates  

After OTV telecast a story on fake certificates provided by job holders, four postmasters have gone missing in Bolangir district. 

The missing postmasters are Jagannath Podh, postmaster of Kendumundi post office under Patnagarh block, Kokila Meher, assistant postmaster of Maruan post office, Puja Meher, postmaster of Padhel post office and Raghunath Meher, postmaster of Ghasien post office. 
Postal department sources said Jagannath, Kokila, Puja, and Raghunath were appointed some months ago. Suspecting the authenticity of their certificates, their salaries have been withheld.

“We have the system to verify the documents that are uploaded online. At that time, we found the documents as true and gave them appointment letters. They joined too. But their salaries have been withheld as we are yet to get any response from the concerned board office in Uttar Pradesh. We will take up the issue with the higher-ups,” said Rajendra Kumar Pattanayak, Superintendent of Bolangir Postal Division. 

In 2022, applications were invited for recruitment to posts of postmaster, assistant postmaster and Dak Sevak in 83 branch post offices. Of the total applicants, 37 were those who deposited Matric certificates from Uttar Pradesh. 

These certificates issued by UP boards had shown marks secured in Odia subject. By doubting the veracity of the certificates, an enquiry was launched. The Bolangir Postal department sought clarification from the concerned board in Uttar Pradesh. 

But the replies received seemed to be fake as well. Instead of ‘verified’ and ‘genuine’ marks on the replies, they had only ‘verified’ marks on them. Following this, a case was registered at the Town Police Station. The police have launched a probe in this regard. 

With these incidents coming to the fore, there is resentment among the aspirants. 

“The deserving candidates are forced to stay at home while others manage to get jobs through fake certificates. So the formers’ morale is down,” said Kritika Agarwal, a job aspirant. 

Bolangir SP Nitin Kushalkar said he has directed to form a team to investigate the allegations. 

(Reported by Manoranjan Joshi, OTV)