50-year-old Maharashtra peon clears SSC after 28 attempts while ministers procure fake degrees

While some ministers in the country are in the line of fire for allegedly procuring fake degrees, a peon in Maharashtra has set an example of a different kind. A peon of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has cleared his SSC exam at the 28th attempt.

The 50-year-old peon, Avinash Chaugule, finally managed to clear his SSC exam on Monday by somehow securing passing marks in Mathematics paper, which he always failed in.

Expressing happiness over this achievement of his staff, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took to twitter to congratulate his staff member.

Ironically, the achievement by the Maharashtra government employee comes on a day when a minister in the Fadnavis Cabinet, Babanrao Lonikar, has been accused by the Congress party of discrepancies in his educational qualification.

While the affidavits filed by the BJP leader in 2004 and 2009 showed him as first year graduation student, the one filed in 2014 showed him as a fifth standard pass.

A similar situation exists in Delhi where Aam Aadmi Party’s Jitender Singh Tomar is currently in police custody for having allegedly fake graduation and law degrees. Tomar, who was the law minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government, resigned after he was arrested for allegedly procuring a fake degree.

The constant attempt by Maharashtra government peon Chaugule is certainly an example of sorts for the likes of Tomar and Lonikar, who allegedly resorted to unfair means and faked their educational qualifications.