Former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala and Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Tuesday demanded legal action against Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) vice-chancellor (VC) Rajbir Singh and other senior officials, accusing them of misleading students after the UGC’s Distance Education Bureau (DEB) found the university “ineligible” to offer online and distance learning courses. NAAC has also warned the university to remove the “A+ grade accredited by NAAC” claim from its website.
HT reported on December 1 that the DEB found MDU ineligible to run open and distance learning and online programmes for 2025–26 under the UGC (Open and Distance Learning and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020. NAAC had directed MDU to immediately remove accreditation details from its website and all public documents.
The November 17 communication from NAAC to MDU, Rohtak says: “It is brought to the notice of NAAC that your university is clearly violating NAAC rules and moreover misleading the public, especially the parents, students and stakeholders by providing wrong information that your university is still accredited and displayed in your university website. You are required to remove the NAAC accreditation details from your website and any other publicly available/distributed documents and report back to NAAC immediately, that the above is complied with. If not, NAAC may initiate action against the University deemed appropriate and also recommend to Statutory Regulatory Authorities to initiate action”.
A five-member Jannayak Janta Party delegation led by Chautala met Haryana governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh, seeking intervention. Chautala said the governor was informed that MDU’s NAAC accreditation expired on March 27, 2024, but the university continued issuing degrees with an A+ grade to two graduating batches.
{{/usCountry}}A five-member Jannayak Janta Party delegation led by Chautala met Haryana governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh, seeking intervention. Chautala said the governor was informed that MDU’s NAAC accreditation expired on March 27, 2024, but the university continued issuing degrees with an A+ grade to two graduating batches.
{{/usCountry}}“It was the duty of the university authorities to apply for re-accreditation before expiry. They delayed it because they knew the ranking would fall after inspection. Nearly 1.5 lakh students are affected, and the future of over 6,400 online and distance learners is now uncertain,” he said. The delegation urged the governor to set up a high-level inquiry and initiate action. Chautala warned that the JJP would pursue legal options if the government failed to act.
In a separate statement, Congress MP Deepender Hooda called MDU’s continued use of the A+ grade “academic fraud” and “a reflection of the dire state of higher education in Haryana.”
“Following the NAAC grading being revoked, the UGC has declared MDU ineligible to offer open distance learning and online courses,” he said, demanding the removal of the VC and legal action for “deceiving” students. Hooda added that the lapse and concealment of information indicated deep-rooted corruption and administrative failure.
Responding to the allegations, MDU public relations director Ashish Dahiya said the university received an A+ grade in 2019 for five years. He said NAAC announced a new accreditation framework on January 27, 2024, and stopped accepting applications under the old system.
“The university decided to apply under the new methodology and requested NAAC, before the grade expired, to allow submission of documents under the revised framework and to continue the existing A+ grade till then. MDU has been in regular touch with NAAC,” he added.