Sewali Devi Sharma, ACS, the then Executive Chairman cum Director of ODL Cell, Govt of Assam collected Rs 115.12 Cr in fees from the unauthorizedly enrolled trainees.
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, November 9, 2025: Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Guwahati Zonal Office has provisionally attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs. 6.40 Crore under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the matter of Sewali Devi Sharma, ACS,the then Executive Chairman cum Director of ODL Cell, Govt of Assam and others, as per a press release issued by the ED.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Vigilance Police Station, CM’s Special Cell, Assam against Smt. Sewali Devi and others under various sections of IPC, 1860 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for misusing Government fund to the tune of Rs.105.76 Crore (approx.).
ED investigation revealed that during her tenure (2017–2021) as Executive Chairmancum-Director of the ODL Cell, SCERT, Assam, Smt. Sewali Devi Sharma unauthorizedly granted approval to 347 study centres and enrolled 1,06,828 trainees, against the Government’s sanctioned approval for only 59 study centres and 27,897 trainees under the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), New Delhi, for the two-year Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) programme through distance mode.
As a result, she collected Rs. 115.12 Crore in fees from the unauthorizedly enrolled trainees. She subsequently opened five bank accounts in the name of the ODL Cell under her own authorization and failed to deposit the collected fees into the Government Treasury, despite not being vested with any financial powers under the Government of Assam’s delegation of powers.
Further investigation established that Smt. Sewali Devi Sharma and her associates diverted and siphoned off the funds from the ODL Cell’s accounts by transferring them to her personal accounts, as well as to those of her family members and close associates. The diverted funds were then used for acquiring various movable and immovable properties in their names. Further investigation is under progress.
