Patna: The Bihar government has decided to withhold the salary of 300 teachers in Patna district suspected to be involved in a fake admissions racket, officials said on Saturday.

A district official said that the government had decided to withhold the salaries of 300 teachers, including headmasters of 62 schools in Bikram and Naubatpur blocks in Patna, on charges of allowing fake admissions.

"Fake admissions cannot happen without the involvement of headmasters and teachers. Funds meant for such schemes go directly to the district education officer (DEO), who releases the money to the schools falling under this area," he said.

According to officials, nearly ten percent of enrolled students were found present in the schools. "The attendance figures were less than the number of students in admission registers," officials said.

The action by authorities in Patna came a day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered an inquiry into incidents of fake admissions in schools.

Earlier, the education department had decided to withhold the salary of a dozen teachers in Sasaram, district headquarters of Rohtas.

Education department officials said that till date more than 437,000 fake admissions had come to light in nearly a dozen districts.

Anjani Kumar Singh, principal secretary in the education department said: "The fake admissions were exposed following a special drive. The government has cancelled all fake admissions in these districts." IANS