Punishment for fake institutions contemplated
They have brand images but are illegal
New Delhi. What may be called the first pro-student and pro-higher education step of the HRD ministry; it is contemplating a legislative proposal to restrict unfair practices in educational institutions. The proposal provides for punishing unrecognised institutions which claim to be recognised by statutory authorities and induce students to take admission. The HRD minister Kapil Sibal made such a statement in the Lok Sabha.
The minister Kapil Sibal informed Lok Sabha that there are in all 201 private institutions across the country which have been imparting technical and management courses without the mandatory approval from the All India Council for Technical Education,
These fake institutions include big names like Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad; ICFAI Business School, Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh; Ansal Institute of Technology, Gurgaon; Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), Delhi; K R Mangalam Global Institute of Management, New Delhi; J K Business School, Gurgaon; M B Birla Institute of Management, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore; and Sikkim Manipal University, Bangalore.
Maharashtra tops the list with 74 such institutions followed by 24 in Delhi, 22 in Karnataka, 19 in Tamil Nadu and 13 each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
According to laws of the land, no technical institution may be started and no new courses or programmes introduced without obtaining prior approval of the AICTE.
Besides, University Grants Commission has identified 21 fake universities running in violation of provisions of the UGC Act, the minister added. The 21 fake universities include eight in Uttar Pradesh and seven in Delhi.
Sibal said, UGC and AICTE give wide publicity to caution students and parents not to take admission in fake and unapproved institutions. He said. "Statutory bodies have also been advised to launch effective campaigns against such institutions which are fake and to take appropriate action under law. The media has also been requested to refuse to publish misleading advertisements by such institutions," Sibal said.
The minister’s statement in the Lok Sabha may be hailed as very urgently needed step. Most of the institutions which operate without abiding by the law create unrealistic brand images with the help of hugely funded advertisement campaigns in all sorts of media. They also use names of obscure foreign universities, their so-called tie-ups and legacies. These five-star education shops lure the students with their grand infrastructure, air-conditioned corridors and libraries and all sorts of cosmetic things to fleece the potential students to the tune of Rs. 10-15 lakhs. It is responsibility of the government to swing in action to save thousands of unsuspecting students’ lives.
