In a recent announcement, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has identified 20 universities as “fake” and unauthorised to grant degrees. Among them, Delhi has the highest number of such institutions, with eight universities falling under this category.
According to UGC Secretary, Manish Joshi, these institutions have been offering degrees in violation of the UGC Act. He emphasized that degrees obtained from these universities will not be recognised for higher education or employment purposes, as they lack the authority to confer valid degrees.
Delhi has the maximum number of ‘fake’ universities as per the UGC list
The list of “fake” universities includes eight institutions from Delhi, four from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, and one each from Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Puducherry.
The universities identified in Delhi are All India Institute of Public and Physical Health Sciences; Commercial University Ltd, Daryaganj; United Nations University; Vocational University; ADR-Centric Juridical University; Indian Institution of Science and Engineering; Viswakarma Open University for Self-Employment; and Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University).
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has four universities on the list: Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith; National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy; Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose University (Open University); and Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad.
Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal each have two universities: Christ New Testament Deemed University and Bible Open University of India in Andhra Pradesh, and Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine and Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research in West Bengal.
Additionally, the “fake” universities include Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society (Karnataka), St John’s University (Kerala), Raja Arabic University (Maharashtra), and Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education (Puducherry).