TIRUNELVELI: State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) member D Jayachandran on Monday released an order directing the government to initiate criminal proceedings against a school headmistress here for misappropriation of scholarship amount.
The Tirunelveli Corporation runs a Girls Higher Secondary School in Kallanai. The commission had received a complaint from one M Muthuvalavan of Melapalayam stating that though the Corporation provided many facilities to the school its Headmistress, Anantha Bairavi aka Natchiar, misused students' scholarship funds.
Considering the complaint and reports of the CEO and DEO of Tirunelveli, the commission categorically established the fact that Headmistress Bairavi has not distributed the scholarship amount to the students. Moreover, in 2017-18, scholarship amount of Rs 81,000 and Rs 21,950 was also not distributed to the students, and was kept in the school headmistress' bank account. It established that the headmistress misappropriated the scholarship amount and as per the report of the DEO, Tirunelveli, charges against the headmistress were proved. The Headmistress wantonly refused to distribute the scholarship and to the students, which revealed the dereliction of her duty and her misconduct, said sources.
In the order released on Monday, the commission recommended that the State government shall pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 to the complainant M Muthuvalavan within one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this recommendation, and the government may recover Rs 25,000 from headmistress Bairavi.
The Commission also recommended the government to give suitable instruction to the Director of School Education in Chennai to expedite enquiry against the headmistress and dispose of the same within three months.