Writer Indu Menon who allegedly claimed that she ghostwrote many journal articles and around 10 PhDs is facing backlash from various corners. ''At least Rs 3 lakhs is guaranteed for writing a PhD. In some cases I earned more,'' Indu Menon, one of the recipients of Chief Minister's Nava Kerala Post-Doctoral Fellowship and an assistant professor at Kerala Institute for Research Training & Development studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes or KIRTADS recently revealed in a Facebook comment.
In subsequent interactions, she indicated that ‘PhD writing’ pays better than translation, and is more satisfying than writing low-brow literature. Since it created a lot of furore on social media, she deleted the posts and comments and later claimed that the comments were made in sarcasm. She also stated that the screenshots had been edited with malicious intent and were being circulated.
J Devika, an activist and a professor at the Centre for Development Studies has written an open letter to Kerala State Higher Education Council vice-chairman Dr Rajan Gurukkal following Indu Menon's revelation. ''Her claims in the now-deleted Facebook posts and comments should be acted upon. It’s ethically, legally and morally a crime.
Many people think I should’ve desisted from criticising her because she’s a woman. But it’s not an issue that should be looked at through gender-correctness. It’s not a fight between two women but disagreements between two researchers,'' said Devika.
In her letter, she said that Menon’s admission to academic malpractice marks a new low which the authorities should take note of in the interest of securing ethics in Kerala's higher education.
''Even if she disowns her own words as a false claim, the damage she has done to higher education through her attempt to normalise the ghostwriting of PhD theses, is severe enough to warrant punishment,'' Devika wrote. In a separate letter to Gurukkal, Rajesh Komath, an associate professor at Mahatma Gandhi University’s School of Social Sciences wrote that such actions must be deemed unlawful and met with appropriate consequences to deter future violations.
''The ten theses and research papers that Menon claims to have written for others should be disclosed, and appropriate investigations should be conducted,'' Komath added. In a reply to one of them, seen by Onmanorama, Gurukkal wrote that the practice is a criminal offence.'' The council will examine the case with due seriousness. It has been forwarded to the University of Calicut under which she is a research supervisor.''
Last year, the University recognised Menon as a sociology research guide at Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode. ''Many days have passed since Indu Menon’s revelations. We wrote to the minister for higher education and social justice and the KSHEC but no action is in sight,'' Hamid TP, the Kerala chapter secretary of SIO. ''We demand an inquiry to find out who received Indu Menon’s services and their doctoral degrees must be cancelled and they should be removed from the positions they gained on the basis of such PhDs," he told Onmanorama.
Onmanorama sent a message to Indu Menon seeking her comments but did not receive a reply. An editor who works in the English language book publishing and has helped many researchers with writing PhDs said it’s become a cottage industry. ''Clients are two categories: some have no clue about the subject nor do they have language skills, others have the grasp over their subject gained through reading and fieldwork but have no language skills to express it. I don’t encourage the first category,'' he said.