Plagiarism charge against Hyd Univ VC; HRD Ministry seeks response

The HRD ministry has sought comments from Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile in the wake of news reports that he had allegedly indulged in plagiarism.

The HRD ministry has sought comments from Hyderabad Central University Vice Chancellor Appa Rao Podile in the wake of news reports that he had allegedly indulged in plagiarism.

Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University Appa Rao at the Human Rights Commission's office in Hyderabad on Monday. (PTI)

The comments have been sought by the ministry after taking note of news reports in this regard, sources said.

There were reports which claimed that Podile had admitted to plagiarism in three research papers co-authored by him in 2007 and 2014.

As per the reports, there had been protests over allegations that the VC had plagiarised some sentences in some papers authored by him.

The VC has been asked to give his comments over the news reports, a source said.

Rao has also been facing protests after Hyderabad University Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula committed suicide.