Students Waiting for Justice by Delhi Police

The Case as It Is:

It looks like degree sale-purchase acts by some institutions in the heart of our country are doing no harm to the country’s education system, as the government has stayed cold-blooded on such issues even after proven scams were reported. While even the top media houses are not targeting the loopholes in the field of education, but are promoting various institutes that are provocatively involved in offering certificates/ degrees with inappropriate records, IConnect has been the first to discover about this scam reporting two institutes, Megha Education Zone in Sagarpur region of West Delhi and Take Distance Education in East Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar area, for providing secondary education certificates and offering professional degrees like B. Tech., M. Tech., LLB., M. Pharma, M. Phil., Ph. D., B. Ed., MCA etc., apart from traditional ones such as BA, B. Sc., B. Comm. and others, for a certain sum of money, to the students who don’t know which way they could verify every detail. The police are waiting for FIR to be lodged to start investigation and the ministry of HRD is trying to part ways saying it is a criminal case and only police can take actions. The big question is “If the ministry acknowledges these cases to be crime, then why does it not announce any solid and strict corrective actions and if the ministry can declare any case as crime then what else are the police waiting for?”

Behavior of the Government and Police:

There would be reasons for not taking actions. In fact, there are many reasons for police or the ministry not announcing any steps against people running such institutions. First, they are highly influential, have political approach and find government officials on their side to lend a helping hand, and if that is the case then, who is going to complain and who will take action? Second, it is said that these malicious people have strong hold in the police department too. Top-rank police officials are in their contact who let them enjoy privilege of doing anything and everything, but seldom do they think about future and career of those young aspirants who are taken for granted. Students ask the government as to why it waits for crime to happen. Does our government prefer dealing with matters only after the damage is caused? Can’t we take proactive measures so that we could prevent wrongdoings from occurring? It is hard to guess why the government wants to shift responsibilities on others. It seems as if the police do not consider anything to be a crime, unless an explicit FIR is lodged. Shakarpur police, when contacted, drew hands from the issue saying the police cannot investigate the case before a crime is reported.

“Police can’t take any action against anybody, whether a person or an institution, unless there is an FIR lodged against it. The case is very complex and the ministry would decide what actions need to be taken,” said the Shakarpur SHO in his statement.

The Role of Regulators:

The students are unable to understand the role of regulators in the education system of India, if they can’t monitor different types of misconducts taking place within the system. If institutes like Megha Education Zone & take distance education, claiming to be running distance courses then providing B.Tech or MCA degree, LLB degree, Pharmacy or B. Ed. degrees; then what are bodies like AICTE, Bar Council of India and NCTE are doing? An distance education institute can provides professional degrees could be offered in distance mode also? Does both institute have taken approval from these authorities for offering programs and degrees in distance? There is a serious doubt about the affiliation from various universities, whose names are listed on the advertisement board of these institutions. Do the regulators look after anything going on in the system? The government has entrusted them with some responsibility. They need to take rightful decisions, otherwise what is the purpose of establishing a regulatory setup? These bodies must justify their position by declaring corrective measures, in order to make the students believe that government bodies take care of them.

Affiliating Universities Deny Association:

As the case was reported by IConnect in the August volume, the universities were asked to clear about what kind of association they have with these institutions. The university officials refused from having any linkups. The registrar of Jodhpur National University said, “The university does not run its operations anywhere outside Jodhpur. We have not authorized any institution to take admissions on the name of university or to run a study center.”

The question that arises here is if the university has no linkup then how come so many institutes have put its name on their promotion boards. If the institutions are playing with the status and reputation of the university, then why does it not file a complaint against such type of institutes? If the universities are not providing their degrees to Megha Education Zone or Take Distance Education, then where have the degrees come from? It means that degrees are being forged and sold for money. Are such actions strengthening the education system? The government needs to give it a proper thought. Police must examine and investigate the case. Before the situation turns sour, there needs to be strict actions against both of these institutes.

Megha Education Zone and Take Distance Education institutes are found to be involved in clear case of fraud, but police are sitting idle waiting for complaints. Do they permit certificate sale-purchase? There are proven records. Universities, which these institutions claim to have an affiliation from, are denying any linkup, saying we don’t give affiliations to these institutes. One of the universities has also said that they have lodged FIR against the institute. Still, institutions are there, going strong with whatever they have been doing for the last 5-6 years. Police, that say they would start investigating the case only after the complaint of crime is lodged, are seen parting ways. Now, as the FIR is also lodged, why do Delhi police officials have not yet woken up? There is doubt about whether the police have even reached the venue to check the campus, the files, and records or computers, printer and everything.

Students are innocent; does that mean they should be exploited for it? In our country, students are forced to pay for seeing the dreams and targeting big goals. They invest money, energy and time, only to be provided with fake certificates and huge disappointments. The institutions have not been executed yet, against the crime they’re involved in for several years.

As far as the students are concerned, they said that such statements are made only to transfer the responsibility from their shoulders. While demanding justice the students said, “We do not have any idea about what all is going on in the system. We only want the truth to come out. Strict step must be taken against those who are running such scams in the holiest field.”

REASON BEHIND DELHI POLICE WAITING TO TAKE ACTION

Delhi police are usually seen taking credits in various cases, but they don’t seem to draw any sort of inspiration from other police teams. In Jan 2013, Visakhapatnam police had ceased nearly 600 certificates of 6 different universities whereas within the last 6 months Hyderabad police has unearthed multiple cases of fraud. “What is the reason behind Delhi police waiting so long for crime to be reported to them? They should be pro-active in dealing with matters like this. It is not a case of theft, but the future of thousands of students depends upon how the policy-makers behave. The fate of a nation is actually decided by its youth. They should not be cheated by individuals like this.”

Megha Education Zone and Take Distance Education have least to do with imparting knowledge. The government bodies, police department and ministries are also not favoring students. If action is still not taken, it might cause a huge blow to the democracy. Institutions like Megha Education Zone and Take Distance Education put the students’ future and career in danger.