RUKUM, MARCH 26: The principal of a school in Rukum's (East) Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality has reportedly been out of contact for a year after misappropriating the school's funds. Balkumar Sharma, principal of Himalaya Adharbhut Vidyalaya at Pelma, Putha Uttarganga-2, has not visited the school for over a year now, according to the locals. As notified by the School Management Committee (SMC), Principal Sharma seems to have forged signatures to misuse the school's bank account for personal benefits. As much as Rs 800,000 has been missing from the school's bank account. Principal Sharma has also been accused of forging the signatures of a teacher and a school helper to withdraw Rs 221,000 and Rs 60,000 from their bank accounts.
Principal Sharma went out of contact, without informing any of his colleagues, according to Bal Kami, a member of the SMC. According to Kami, the bank statement also proves Principal Sharma withdrawing his own, as well as some of his colleague's salaries from the month the he disappeared till Dashain. Principal Sharma has not returned since he supposedly took a short leave, last April, after assigning one of the school's teachers the position of an acting Principal.
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The School has filed a complaint against Principal Sharma for being absent from work for a significant amount of time; for withdrawing Rs 800,000 from the school's account and for forging his colleague's signatures to withdraw their money from the bank at the District Administration Office , Rukum(East).
Principal Sharma assigned Makhan Kumar KC as the acting principal before taking his supposed leave. KC has also gone missing since August 17, 2018. KC is reported to have gone missing after being brutally beaten up on August 16. KC's relatives suspect that he could have been murdered. They have hence filed an FIR against ward chairman Satsingh Buda, SMC chairman Jas Bahadur Kami and five others accusing them of KC's murder. Based on the relatives' complaint, District Court of Rukumkot has ordered that all the accused be kept under judicial custody.
The school's management also seems to have gone haywire after both the men in power left the prestigious position, one after the other.
There are no traces of any notifications provided by Balkrishna Sharma to the school or the Rural Municipality, or the Education Development and Coordination Unit (EDCU) that could possibly justify his actions. EDCU head Tilak Gautam also confirmed that Principal Sharma had not informed them about his 'short leave'. The school responsible for educating students from pre-primary level to the sixth grade has only three teachers employed currently. More than 150 students are enrolled at the school at present.
