The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) on Thursday took consciousness regarding the allegations of selling fake degrees put on certain universities.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) is directed to immediately constitute a high-level committee for the inquiry for the allegations.
“In response to media reports, the Human Resource Development Ministry has ordered UGC to immediately constitute a high-level committee to enquire into the allegations regarding the sale of fake degrees by certain universities,” the ministry said in a statement.
The committee has given three weeks time to complete this task.
“The committee is required to complete its enquiry within three weeks and identify institutions and individuals that have resorted to such illegal practices so that strict action can be taken against all concerned,” it said.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said that he has instructed that if a university will found guilty strict action will be taken against them.
“Whosoever is guilty, strict action will be taken against them,” he tweet on Twitter.
The matter come into existence after an investigation by News18. It revealed that they have found some agents from an educational consultancy who claimed they would provide educational degrees without any need to attend classes or appear for examinations.
An agent come up in lime light from Navi Mumbai’s Koparkhairane-based consultancy said that he can provide degrees from two well-known universities and claimed to conclude the entire process within 45 days.
The universities Yashwantrao Chavan University and Solapur University both of them are approved by the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The agent handed over the backdated degrees and assured that the entry of these forged documents would be done in the university’s records.
The further investigation showed that the charges one have to pay in order to obtain Engineering, LLB and Ph.D vary from one university to another.
The amount charged for an engineering degree was Rs 75,000 for a course of three years and Rs 2 lakh to buy a while a law degree from a university in Uttar Pradesh.