State education board probes into complaint about Aurangabad-based ‘Maharashtra Education Board’

The Pune-headquartered Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has undertaken a probe into an organisation called ‘Maharashtra Education Board’ after receiving several complaints about the activities of the Aurangabad-based organisation.

State education board chairperson, Shakuntala Kale said that the board has received a complaint about the existence of an organisation called ‘Maharashtra Education Board’. “According to rules, such private boards cannot be formed as there are authorised state and central boards to conduct exams.We have initiated action against this organisation from our side,” she said.

The complaint was filed by an NGO called Human Right Awareness and Protection (HRAP), alleging that the organisation, ‘Maharashtra Education Board’ (MEB) was functioning like a “parallel board” and was issuing secondary and higher secondary exam certificates.

The NGO’s vice-president Abhishek Haridas said that such private and parallel boards were unauthorised. “The ‘Maharashtra Education Board’s’ website and font resembles the font used on the state education board marksheets and certificates,” he said, adding that certificates issued by such a board could be misleading, create confusion and harm the careers of students.

When contacted, Imtiyaz Sayyed, who is based in Nashik and runs the organisation claimed that his organisation was registered with central government ministries. “I have registered my institute with the ministry of home affairs and the erstwhile planning commission. I can present all the evidence and all the necessary documents,” he said.

The website (http://meb.ind.in/default.aspx) claims that it was “Established by an Act XXI of 1860 of Government of India (SR Act),under notification number P 26/4/52 C.C. of Government of India and the board is also affiliated to the ministry of home affairs and planning commission of India, New Delhi with registration no. MH/2010/0031967 and registered with ministry of human resource development (CR).” (sic)

This website claimed that the ‘Maharashtra Education Board’ is a “Minority educational institution formed under Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India for promoting the Hindi language across the country. National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, Government of India has declared Maharashtra Education Board as a minority educational institution.”

The website also claims that the board offers secondary and senior secondary level, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) based courses, in Hindi and English medium. The board also runs a diploma course, multiple vocational courses, and a course on mass communication in television journalism.

The website mentions ‘Mayur Art Development and Welfare Society’ as its parent organisation and gives its address as Central Naka road, Madni chowk, Aurangabad.”