On Monday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that University Grant Commission has declared 24 “self-styled” institutes fake and has found two more universities violating the norms. The statement was made by Education Minister Pradhan while responding to a written question in Lok Sabha Assembly.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “Based on the complaints received from the students, parents, general public and also through electronic print media, UGC has declared 24 self-styled institutes as fake universities.”
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Pradhan has also elaborated the steps taken by UGC against the fake universities and said, “The UGC issues public notices about the list of fake universities/institutes in national Hindi and English newspapers."
“The commission writes letters to state chief secretaries, Education secretaries and principal secretaries to take action against such universities located in their jurisdiction. Show cause and warning notices are issued to the unauthorized institutes awarding invalid degrees when any self-styled institution is found or noticed functioning in violation of the UGC Act, 1956,” he continued.
List of fake universities declared by the University Grant Commission:
The highest number of such fake universities has been reported from Uttar Pradesh. UP has eight fake universities - Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi; Mahila Gram Vidyapith, Allahabad; Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Allahabad; National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur; Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Open University, Aligarh; Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Mathura; Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh and Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad, Noida.
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National Capital New Delhi has seven fake universities - Commercial University Ltd, United Nations University, Vocational University, ADR Centric Juridical University, Indian Institution of Science and Engineering, Vishwakarma Open University for Self Employment and Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University).
West Bengal and Odisha have two fake universities each. West Bengal - Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine, Kolkata and Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research, Kolkata as well as in Odisha - Nababharat Shiksha Parishad, Rourkela and North Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology.
Karnataka, Puducherry, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have one such fake university each. Karnataka - Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Karnataka; Puducherry - Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education, Puducherry; Kerala - St John's University, Kerala; Andhra Pradesh - Christ New Testament Deemed University, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra - Raja Arabic University, Nagpur.
Education Minister informed that “two more institutes namely Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad, Lucknow, UP and Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), Qutub Enclave, New Delhi are also found functioning in violation of the UGC Act, 1956. The matters of Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad, Lucknow and IIPM, New Delhi are sub-judice in the court.”