A few recent scandals in Kerala had revealed the sway of online rackets which are engaged in preparing forged degree certificates of popular universities in India as well as abroad. Fake degrees are in demand as they help to secure employment and promotions. The rackets behind their printing and sales continue to thrive with increasing demand and the failure of the police to bust them. In most cases, such as the infamous ‘Madhya Bharat fraud’, investigations into complaints against such malpractices have reached nowhere.
Three years ago, the Chief Secretary of Haryana issued an order to all Department Secretaries and University Registrars in that state to exercise caution while dealing with candidates who produced mark-lists and degree certificates from ‘Madhya Bharat Board of Secondary Examination’ based at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. The order said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered two cases against this fake institution.
Even thousands of people from Kerala had obtained fake certificates from the Gwalior-based institution and used them to build their career. A related complaint was received by the police against a woman employee of a ground-handling firm at Kochi airport in Nedumbassery. This woman applied for a job in another company at the same airport and submitted her academic certificates for verification. However, authorities of the company where she applied became suspicious over the certificates. While SSLC (Class 10) and Plus-Two (Class 12) certificates were from Madhya Bharat Board of Secondary Examination, her degree was from Annamalai University. As the company was not convinced about the Gwalior-based Madhya Bharat Board, it did not appoint the woman.
The bio-data of the ground-handling firm employee said that she had appeared for the Madhya Bharat Board’s exams at a parallel college in Ernakulam. However, she also claimed to have done a ‘regular’ course.
Enquiries led to another firm at Perumbavoor which offered IELTS (International English Language Testing System) training. Those in charge of the Perumbavoor firm said that they used to arrange certificates of Madhya Bharat Board till three years ago, but had stopped it.
Subsequently, the company where the ground-handling firm employee had applied for a job submitted a complaint over the matter with the Director General of Police (DGP). The DGP passed on the complaint to the Nedumbassery police, who approached the ground-handling firm seeking information. However, the investigation was stalled after the authorities at the ground-handling firm told the police that they had no complaints against the woman employee as all details had been verified.
‘One-sitting degree’
There are universities outside Kerala which offer ‘one-sitting degrees.’ A candidate applying for such degrees can sit for exams of all three years after one year in a single sitting. If the candidates need help to write the exams, the university will arrange people to take the test for them.
Even though people who gain such degrees are mocked ‘One-sitting degree holders,’ many of them have landed plum jobs. One such person now occupies a crucial position in a research institution handed over by Kerala to the Centre a few years ago.
This man had joined the institution as a programme assistant with an SSLC qualification while an active worker of a political party and currently holds the post of controller, thanks to a ‘One-sitting degree’, that too an MA in History!
This person often arranges backdoor appointments for kith and kin of leading politicians belonging to all parties, which ensures that no complaints are raised against him.
In fact, most of the government employees who obtain such fake degrees use them to secure promotions. These employees are also confident that they would be given protection by their unions.
Police let go 3,000 fake graduates
A decade ago, Ayurstar Academy, an institution at Thrissur, lured people with the promise of arranging a degree certificate for Rs 30,000 without joining the course. After receiving a complaint, the police conducted a raid on the firm and found records revealing that the academy had issued fake degrees to around 3,000 people. Nearly 50 fake degree certificates carrying signatures and seals which were kept ready to be mailed were seized. Two women who were present at the academy during the raid were arrested.
‘Manorama’ correspondent contacted one among these women recently and her response was, “I was only an aide and had joined the real operators owing to the bad circumstances at home. On my own, I had done no wrong.”
In fact, the case had only three accused. While one person was the academy’s principal, the other was its secretary. The academy functioned at a building adjacent to the secretary’s house. Certificates for courses such as BTech, BA, Panchakarma and Business Management were forged here. All certificates carried fake holograms, seals and signatures of Vice-Chancellors and Exam Controllers. Fake mark-lists were also prepared.
However, the police investigation did not extend to the 3,000 persons who received the fake degrees. It is not known how they used those certificates.
The solution
Dr Rajan Gurukkal, Vice-Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council, feels that the fake certificate racket has grown into a big industry in the country. “All universities have to ensure holograms and QR codes on certificates to prevent frauds. The National Academic Depository (NDA) under the Centre has facilities to verify the authenticity of certificates,” he said.
“Fake degree certificates have a similar effect on the educational sector as counterfeit currency has on the economy,” said Dr Mohanan Kunnummal, Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University of Health Sciences and Kerala University.
“The solution to the fake certificate menace is to upload all certificates on DigiLocker. Kerala University and Kerala University of Health Sciences has initiated procedures in this regard,” he added.
According to Dr Gopinath Raveendran, Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University, the ideal method to curb the menace of fake degrees is to stop printing of certificates on paper. “Universities should award only online degrees, which should be stored in the National Academic Depository. As the university directly uploads the certificate, there would be no room for fraud,” he said.
‘Check value-erosion’
“Even though the number of people who obtain fake certificates is a minority, compared to people who earn genuine degrees, such incidents have led to a value-erosion of the universities and higher-educational institutions in Kerala,” said Dr Kuncheria P Isaac, former vice-chancellor of the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University (formerly Kerala Technological University).
“Recently, some foreign universities are insisting on production of original degree certificates by students from Kerala to start the admission procedures. We need to regain the lost image of the state,” he said.
Isaac also called upon the universities to upload the certificates on DigiLocker to check frauds. No certificate mafia functions in universities, said Dr M K Jayaraj, Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University.
“Whenever a fake degree from other institutions is presented at Calicut University, we inform the police,” he said.
This is the last of a five-part series on the fake degree menace in Kerala.
Read Part 1: How fake degree certificate menace is wrecking Kerala’s higher education sector
Part 2: Pay and get fake degree certificate! How online rackets operate
Part 3: Certificate forgery cases remain unsolved and go cold often