Headmaster continues to work despite multiple govt indictments
The Statesman | 17 July 2025
In a stunning defiance of law, administrative orders, and ethical norms, Manaranjan Biswas, the reported headmaster of the historic Krishnagar Collegiate School in Nadia, continues to cling to his post despite proven charges of corruption, irregularities, and gross administrative misconduct.
For eight long years, Biswas has held the institution hostage to his unlawful authority, even as multiple official inquiries, including those commissioned by the district magistrate of Nadia and the directorate of School Education, West Bengal, have found him guilty of serious violations.
What makes this case extraordinary is not just the brazen nature of the offences, but the sheer impunity with which Biswas has flouted government norms, falsified records, manipulated finances, and obstructed democratic processes within the institution.
Since his appointment in July 2017 from Hanspukuria High School, Tehatta, Biswas has faced a staggering 70 complaints lodged by the teachers’ representatives (TR) of the managing committee. After extensive administrative probes, damning reports were submitted by the district magistrate, Nadia (vide memo 812/SSA dated 12-11-2020), the Directorate of School Education (vide memo 168 Sc/AIS dated 29-05-2023) and the Commissioner of School Education, WB (vide memo 437-Sc/G/MISC/46/S/2023 dated 12-09-2023).
Eventually, a formal charge sheet was served on him on 29 November 2024 (memo 1554-SED-19017/6/2023-ADMIN SEC-Dept.of SE), where he was found guilty of gross irregularities in the procurement of laboratory materials involving Rs 11.87 lakh, and illegal admissions into Class IX in 2018. Yet, despite the clear mandates of the West Bengal Service Rules (WBSR) and the DDO Manual — which require suspension of a government servant facing departmental proceedings — Mr Biswas continues to preside over the school.
Further allegations keep surfacing. In the academic session of 2024-25, Mr Biswas is accused of collecting Rs 1,200 from each student for computer science and application classes, amounting to Rs 82,800 in total, while the appointed teacher was paid a mere Rs 4,000 per month, totalling Rs 48,000 annually. The destination of the remaining funds remains unaccounted for. Teachers allege that to legitimise such financial manoeuvres, Mr Biswas fabricated managing committee resolutions without convening any formal meetings, coercing a handful of assistant teachers into signing fabricated documents.
There are now serious accusations that Biswas is forging stock registers to manipulate records related to laboratory grants from 2019 and threatening teachers to comply with his instructions. At least one assistant teacher has since written to the district magistrate, apologising for having been misled into signing fraudulent resolutions post-charge sheet.
Adding to the grim picture are past financial irregularities during Mr Biswas’s tenure at Hanspukuria High School — yet it did not impede his appointment to Krishnagar Collegiate School. After relentless protests, the district magistrate of Nadia, with inputs from the minister in-charge, urged the principal secretary of the school education department on 1 July to intervene. But so far, no decisive action has followed.