Darjeeling, June 28: The need to overhaul the administrative set-up of the DGHC has come into focus following the discovery of the multi-crore Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) scam and the fact that the number of primary school students had been inflated in a council-conducted survey.

These two irregularities, both of which took place in the education department, and other allegations of corruption in the DGHC suggest that the single-tier administrative body of the council needs to be reshaped and a more effective system put in place.

Senior DGHC officials admit that the administration has to be decentralised to enable officials to keep a tab on the effective implementation of various schemes.

A good example is the education department, where a single secretary stationed at Lewis Jubilee Complex here is expected to monitor every project. This in spite of the fact that the primary schools have been divided into 13 circles.

?It becomes virtually impossible for a single officer to verify various schemes implemented across the hills. A decentralised secretariat, ideally one for each of the three subdivisions, is needed,? a senior DGHC official said.

This is especially true since some primary schools are located in remote areas like Srikhola, which can be reached after a five-hour journey by road to Rimbick followed by a two-hour trek. Similarly, to reach Today Tangtha on the India-Bhutan border, one has to travel for almost six hours from Darjeeling through difficult terrain, crossing Jalpaiguri district on way.

Officers also agree that local villagers need to be more vigilant about the functioning of the autonomous body.

?Village Education Committee members do not even verify the sanctioned amounts or see whether they have been credited or not. They should be made to act more responsibly,? an officer said.

The SSA scam has also exposed procedural irregularities. Arrested Group D employees have said it was normal practice for DGHC officers to send them and their colleagues to collect money from the bank, which is illegal as only the cashier or the head clerk of a department is entitled to do so. Such flouting of norms, too, need to be checked, the officials maintained.