5 L fake degrees sold by HP varsities
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 21
A massive fake degree scam involving the sale of five lakh degrees by two private universities in Himachal has put the state government in the dock for not taking prompt action against the erring institutions.
Matter referred to DGP just few days ago
- The Chairman of the HP Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission, Dr KK Katoch, admitted on Friday that a letter was received from the UGC on the scam
- As the issue called for a probe, it was referred to the DGP a few days ago, he said
The University Grants Commission (UGC) had written to the authorities concerned in the state in August 2019 to conduct a thorough inquiry into the allegations of sale of fake degrees by the APG University in Shimla and Manav Bharti University in Solan but no action has been taken in the past six months.
The UGC letter reads: “Manav Bharti University (MBU), Solan, sold more than four-five lakh degrees during the past seven years with the help of agents in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal and South India. It never informed the HP Private Universities Regulatory Authority that it had sold so many degrees.
“The founder of the MBU made good money by selling degrees of Open University for Complementary Medicine, Sri Lanka, by printing these degrees without the knowledge of owner of the university.”
The APG University, the letter said, did not sell degrees this year but had sold more than 15,000 fake degrees in the past.
