KOTTAYAM: As the State Higher Education department grapples with controversies surrounding fake certificates involving SFI activists, the discovery of 54 missing unissued postgraduate certificates at Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam has caused further embarrassment to the government and the university.
According to sources, the certificates went missing from the PD-V section in the Pareeksha Bhavan of the university. Given that these missing certificates could be used to forge PG certificates, the university authorities promptly initiated an inquiry into the matter.
Following the direction of Prof C T Aravinda Kumar, pro-vice chancellor and vice chancellor-in-charge of the university, a preliminary inquiry was conducted by C M Sreejith, the Controller of Examinations. Based on the report, the vice-chancellor took action by suspending both the former section officer and the current section officer, who were found guilty of dereliction of duty during the preliminary investigation. Prof Kumar stated that a detailed inquiry, led by an officer at the joint registrar level following university statute, will be conducted. “During the investigation period, all employees in the section from where the certificates went missing will be transferred to other sections,” he added.
The university authorities will file a police complaint on Thursday regarding the incident. Urgent measures are also being taken by the university to revoke all 54 certificates by highlighting their serial numbers and issuing a notification on the varsity website.
The registrar will submit a report to the minister for higher education, detailing the actions taken by the university thus far in response to this incident. Meanwhile, the university authorities believe that this incident was a deliberate attempt to tarnish the reputation of the institution. “The timing of the incident, coinciding with the university’s awaited fresh accreditation from NAAC, leads us to suspect deliberate attempts to sabotage the varsity’s ranking,” expressed an official.