A major case of fraud came to light in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district, where a pair of twin sisters managed to work as government school teachers for 18 years using the same identity and mark sheets. What at first appeared to be a coincidence, the twin sisters employed at different schools, soon unravelled into a calculated con.

The two women, both named Rashmi, were drawing separate salaries while using the same academic credentials. It wasn’t until they made a critical mistake – submitting transfer requests to the same school – that the truth began to surface.

The transfer applications triggered suspicions among officials, who found the applications nearly identical. On closer inspection, they realised the names, degree certificates, and even subject-wise marks matched perfectly – a statistical impossibility even for identical twins.

The subsequent investigation revealed that only one sister had earned a legitimate teaching degree. The other had forged her sister’s mark sheets and secured a government job using the counterfeit documents. Together, they quietly drew salaries for 18 years, with no red flags raised by school administrators or district officials until now.
Authorities estimate the scam has cost the state exchequer over Rs 1.5 crore. Of this, the sister with the fake credentials is believed to have drawn more than Rs 80 lakh on her own. Once the fraud came to light, one sister reportedly resigned, while the other abandoned her post.

Damoh’s District Education Officer SK Nema confirmed the details, stating that one of the teachers had submitted original documents, while the other had used Xerox copies. During the recent document verification process, discrepancies were identified, leading to a deeper probe, he said.

The shockwaves from this case go beyond the twins. An internal audit by the education department revealed that at least 19 government school teachers in the district were hired using forged documents. Yet, only three have been dismissed so far. The rest 16 teachers continue to remain on the payroll, having collectively withdrawn over Rs 22.93 crore in salaries to date.