BENGALURU : One of the directors of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had allegedly produced a fake masters degree certificate from a university in Sikkim to appear for the UPSC exam to rise up the ranks in his profession, according to sources.
The Directorate of Higher Education in Sikkim wrote to DGCA a month ago stating that the certificate produced by Ravinder Singh Jamwal was not genuine and EIILM University offers no such course. However, the official continues in his position undisturbed, taking crucial decisions, the sources said.
The sources said Jamwal’s experience as a Naval ATC in Goa helped him join DGCA. Documents with TNIE reveal that Jamwal had 11 years’ experience (July 3, 2000, to July 3, 2011) at INS Hansa Dabolim Airport, Goa. After that, he worked as general manager (operations), Reliance Commercial Dealers Ltd.
He then joined DGCA as assistant director (operations) on October 1, 2012. After some years, he applied for the post of deputy director (operations). The selection for this post is through UPSC and applicants should have a degree in Aeronautical/Electrical or Electronics or a MSc degree in electronics or physics. He got selected for it in March 2016.
After working for five years as deputy director, Jamwal was appointed as director in 2021. He now heads the Air Space and Air Navigation Services Standards (ANSS) and the Flights Standards Directorate.
DGCA has documentary evidence of malpractice
The alleged malpractice came to light when the office of the chief vigilance officer at DGCA received a bulky envelope on December 1, 2023. It had documentary evidence of Jamwal’s alleged malpractice. Copies of fraudulent certificates related to masters degree in physics, said to be from EIILM University, given in June 2012 and submitted to the UPSC were enclosed.
TNIE has copies of all certificates, including the one which claims he got a distinction by securing 916 out of 1200 marks. The name of the degree keeps changing in the certificates with one of them calling it MSc (Physics). After the vigilance section received a complaint, deputy director of administration Varsha Shalini wrote to the HR Department of the university on December 5, 2023, seeking confirmation about the degree obtained by Jamwal.
Three days later, the directorate of higher education in the secretariat at Gangtok sent details to the deputy director. It said, “The masters degree in physics is not a course recognised by UGC. As such, the degree obtained by Ravinder Singh bearing enrolment no. EIILMU/10/F/2152378 is not genuine.” The Ministry of Defence (Navy) has been alerted about the alleged malpractice.
The education department has a list of 10 UG degrees and three masters degrees offered by EIILM University as regular courses which have UGC recognition -- MCA, MBA and MSc in Biotechnology. It also offered three UGC-recognised distance courses -- BA (Hospitality and Tourism), BCA and MBA. The sources alleged that it is shocking that no action has been taken by DGCA against Jamwal.
“This is a criminal offence. He managed to rise up the ladder at the expense of other deserving candidates. He is said to be a highly influential person,” a source alleged. “Jamwal is involved in crucial roles pertaining to aviation safety like issuing licences to facilities in ATC, facilities in communications, navigations and radars,” another source said. Multiple calls to DGCA director general Vikram Dev Dutt went answered. His office staff said he is on a tour.