UGC releases list of 24 fake universities
25 Apr 2018
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released a list of 24 fake universities, to warn prospective students and the larger public. UGC said these 24 self-styled, unrecognised institutions functioning in contravention of the UGC Act have been declared as fake and are not entitled to confer any degrees.
Out of the 24 'fake univerisities', eight are based in national capital Delhi, according to UGC, the higher education regulator. The detailed list of such universities is available at UGC website www.ugc.ac.in.
UGC decided to publish the names of these fake universities ahead of the admission season when students are looking to make career choices aiming to get through top-notch universities around the country.
The state-wise list of fake universities include:
Bihar: Maithili University (Vishwavidyalaya), Darbhanga;
Delhi: Commercial University Ltd (Daryaganj), United Nations University, Vocational University, ADR-Centric Juridical University (Rajendra Place), Indian Institute of Science and Engineering, Viswakarma Open University for Self-Employment (Sanjay Enclave), and Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University.
Karnataka: Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society (Belgaum);
Kerala: St John’s University (Kishanattam);
Maharashtra: Raja Arabic University (Nagpur);
Odisha: Nababharat Shiksha Parishad (Rourkela) and North Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology;
Puducherry: Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education (Thilaspet);
Uttar Pradesh: Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (Varanasi) and Jagatpuri (Delhi), Mahila Gram Vidyapith (Vishwavidyalaya) Prayag; Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith (Prayag), National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy (Kanpur), Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University (Open University), Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya (Mathura), Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya (Pratapgarh) and Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad (Noida Phase-II) - (The matter of Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad (Lucknow) is sub judice as a case is pending before the district judge, Lucknow); and
West Bengal: Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine (Kolkata) and Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research (Thakurpurkur).
UGC had also, in a letter dated 10 November 2017, had asked 123 deemed-to-be-universities to drop the word 'university' from their names. The letter cited a Supreme Court order dated 3 November 2017 and said that the use of word 'University' by deemed-to-be universities is in violation of the Section 23 of the UGC Act.
According to the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, only a University established by a central, state/ provincial Act or an institution deemed to be university under section 3 or an institution especially empowered by an Act of Parliament to confer UGC specified degrees under section 22(3) of the Act.