E-Paper
Fake degree scam: Manav Bharati University’s diploma course students stare at uncertain future
With the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation into the Manav Bharati University fake degree scam currently underway, scores of students are now facing an uncertain future and are running from pillar to post to procure their degrees
With the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation into the Manav Bharati University fake degree scam currently underway, scores of students are now facing an uncertain future and are running from pillar to post to procure their degrees.
As many as 60 were enrolled in the two year diploma in elementary education (DLEd) course at the university from 2019-21, of which 35 had passed the final examination, while 25 of them had dropped out after the scam was unearthed.
Naresh Kumar, a student of the programme, said, “I have contacted the registrar and other officials of the university several times, but they say that the records are with the police and unless the court orders it, it is not possible to get the diploma. We have also requested Rajiv Kumar, the administrative officer appointed by the Himachal government at Manav Bharati University to issue the mark sheet and diploma, but he also did not help us.”
Another student, Aakriti Sahu, said that she had passed the exams six months ago, but is yet to receive the diploma, leaving her future uncertain.
All the DLEd pass students have written a letter to the Himachal chief minister and education minister as well as the chairman of the regulatory commission requesting that the administrative officer and registrar issue their diplomas and marksheets.
The fake degree scam was unearthed in February 2019, a year after the University Grants Commission (UGC) received an anonymous complaint about the alleged sale of more than 5 lakh degrees by two private universities in HP, MBU in Solan and APG in Shimla. The UGC then apprised the state government of the matter and sought appropriate action against the institutes. A case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against university officials for cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy on March 3.
Manav Bharti University chairman Raj Kumar Rana, registrar of the university KK Singh, two university officials, Anupama Thakur and Munish Goel, were arrested in March 2021.
An SIT investigation revealed that Rana, chairman of the Manav Bharti Charitable Trust, Solan, had started issuing fake degrees in the name of MBU in 2009 from his office in Karnal, Haryana. Proceeds to the tune of ₹387 crore were which were generated from the issuing fake degrees were then invested by Rana in several properties in his name as well as in the name of his son Mandeep Rana and other family members, it was found.
