Mumbai: Azad Maidan police have booked 10 skill development training institutes and their operators from Beed district for allegedly listing their institutes with the Maharashtra State Skill Development Society (MSSDS) to procure government funds. According to the offence registered, the society's web portal was hacked to include the names of these institutes. Police have also applied sections of the Information Technology Act in this case.
The fraud came to light when officials of the MSSDS went to Beed for verification and found these institutes did not exist.
The MSSDS is the nodal agency for planning, coordination, execution and monitoring of the government's skill development initiative. It functions under the skill development and entrepreneurship department and the relevant schemes of various departments are implemented through this society
According to police, those institutes wanting to avail governments funds for skill development, must first register themselves with the MSSDS online. During registration, the institutes have to provide details, after which they are given registration numbers. Then the local office of the MSSDS visits these institutes,, submits a report to the society's main office. Only then are the institutes listed with the society. After this due procedure, the state government gives Rs 15,000 to every student of the institute..
During the investigation it was revealed that the institutes were granted recognition on a Sunday, November 4, 2018, when the office was closed.
According to police, the institutes were found to be listed in November 2018 but no funds have been given to them.
No arrests have been made so far in the case.
