Currently 20 institutions figure in fake university list, three added in last three years: Govt to Rajya Sabha

New Delhi [India]: Currently 20 institutions figured as fake universities in the list of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and three have been added in the list in the last three years, the Central government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Subhas Sarkar shared the information through a written reply to the query of a member who asked about the number of fake universities that have come up in the last three years.

“Currently 20 institutions figure in this list,” said the MoS while responding to the query of Kartikeya Sharma.

Citing information received from the UGC, the Minister said Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow based Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad, Delhi’s Alipur-based All India Institute of Public and Physical Health Sciences (AIIPPHS), State Government University, and Andhra Pradesh’s Vishakhapatnam based Bible Open University of India are among the three “fake institutions” which were added in the list of fake universities by the UGC between 2021 and 2023.

Bible Open University of India was added in the UGC list of fake universities in 2023. However,

Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad, Bharat Bhawan, Matiyari Chinhat, Faizabad Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh was included in the list in 2021, and AIIPPHS, State Government University in 2022.

Sarkar said the list of fake universities are available in the website of the University Grants Commission (UGC) at https://www.ugc.gov.in/page/Fake Universities.aspx.

As per the Minister, the Central Government as well as the UGC are taking various steps to protect the innocent students from the trap of such universities and nstitutions, which inter-alia include public notices about this are uploaded in UGC website to caution students, and guardians and the public at large about such institutions.

“From time to time, the UGC writes letters to Chief Secretaries and Education Secretaries of respective state and UT governments to take action against fake universities and institutes located in their jurisdiction,” said the Minister.

The UGC has filed FIRs against some of these fake universities, said the MoS, adding the UGC has issued show-cause and warning notices against such self-styled institutions.

In addition, the MoS said, the Ministry has also requested the Chief Secretaries of all state and UT governments to take appropriate action against those involved in defrauding and cheating students by misrepresenting themselves as “Universities”, awarding degrees and using the “University” with their name.