MU finds close to 300 fake degrees a year during ratification for jobs

Univ Response? Sending Post Cards Listing Fraud To Police

Dubious degrees are a breakdown of a university's defences that protect its image and strengthen the guarantee of genuine graduation. Mumbai University finds close to 300 fake degrees a year from among the ones sent to it for verification by employers -only the tip of the iceberg, believe security experts -but deals with it in a unique manner: it dispatches a post card to the police informing them of the matter.

The university revealed it received 252 fake degrees in 2012-13, which rose to 274 last year. Up till July this year, it received a total of 136 fake degrees, it said in reply to an RTI query filed by activist Vihar Durve.

When thousands of students from the university must be finding employment across India each year, the Mumbai University receives a meagre 3,500 to 4,000 degrees a year for verification.

Few organizations, mostly multinationals, send documents for ratification. While the university is expected to respond within a fortnight, it usually takes longer and that forces companies to approach third party agents who have set up shop to verify degrees.The university charges a nominal Rs 100 to endorse the degrees of a recent graduate; the fee rises in case of older degree holders.

The maximum fake degree cases involve Bachelor of Commerce (BCom). The other disciplines high on the forgery list include Bachelor of Arts (BA), engineering, Bachelor of Science (BSc) and also Masters of Management Studies (MMS).

University controller Deepak Wasave said there are close to half a dozen security markers on the mark sheets but in most cases, the fabrication is evident with the naked eye.

“In many cases, students place a sheet of paper on their friends' marksheets, take a photocopy and print their name on it. There was a plan of providing students with smart cards, which would have passing certificates, mark sheets, and degree certificates encrypted on a chip, but the idea died when officers were changed,“ said a former exam controller.

“In the RTI, the Mumbai University has mentioned that the cases of fake degrees have been communicated to the BKC police station. But nobody knows what happened to these cases,“ said Durve.

Rather than working through traditional channels, the university dispatches a post card to the police station or sends a peon with the list of fake degrees that land up for verification, said senior PI Kundalik Nigade of BKC police station. This approach undermines the matter that should have been dealt with much seriousness.

“For a university that is so old, one is surprised by the manner in which forgery of such gravity is tackled,“ said Durve.

Source | Times of India | 19 August 2015