28 students from a private B-school at Badarpur were promised regular post-graduate degrees; they paid lakhs in fees but halfway through the semester realised their institution wasn't permitted to run the course. Now, they want a total refund. Amit Singh investigates
28 students from a private B-school at Badarpur were promised regular post-graduate degrees; they paid lakhs in fees but halfway through the semester realised their institution wasn't permitted to run the course. Now, they want a total refund. Amit Singh investigates
The red, brick-lined building with sleek posters of smart girls and boys in business suits had fired their dreams. It had made them believe that their course in Hospital Management would open doors to a dream life. But 28 students of the first batch of the Hospital Management course of Delhi Business School (DBS), a management institute located on the Mathura Road at Badarpur border, woke up to the harsh reality mid-way through their two-year course.
RTI clears the air
An RTI petition revealed that instead of offering the promised regular graduate degrees, they would be getting degrees in distance education from a private university not authorised to open centres or study units outside Sikkim. Now, the students want a refund and have filed a police complaint against the institute.
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When the students filed an RTI with the University Grants Commission (UGC) enquiring if EIILM University, Sikkim, was affiliated to the Distance Education Council (DEC) or the UGC and was permitted to run a Hospital Management programme outside Sikkim, the reply was in the negative. The RTI reply (a copy of which is with MiD DAY) said, "As per DEC records, EIILM Sikkim has been established by an act of State Legislature of Sikkim as a private university and is empowered to award degrees as specified by the UGC Act at its main campus with the approval of the Statutory Councils, wherever required. But the university cannot open any other study centre even within the state, as per the provision of UGC Regulations, 2003, without the approval of UGC."
'Fee not fair'
In the police complaint, the students also alleged that as per university rules, the fees should have been Rs 3,750 per semester. "But the DBS has charged us Rs 1,85,000 for the course till now. We were kept in the dark about the actual fees," said Ashish Sharma, one of the students of the Hospital Management course.
"Each student has been charged a different amount of tuition fees for the same course in the same semester, depending upon their financial potential. When we realized the degree was not the same, which had been promised to us, we demanded a fee refund. However, the college authorities said that they are not liable to do so," added Sharma.
The institute says...
Speaking on the issue, Director of DBS Divya Rajput said, "We are facing this problem with just 28 Hospital Management students. In the beginning, the students were informed that they would have to fly to Sikkim to appear for their final examination. We also offered that if any student was not comfortable with the arrangement, we would tie-up with Punjab Technical University (PTU) and can shift them to that university. The students are now asking for a compensation of Rs 5 lakh, which is not possible. I have told them to take the legal route and whatever the court decides, we will act accordingly."
Clearing the air on the discrepancies in tuition fees among the students of the same batch, Rajput said it was decided on the students' merit. "Based on students' marks and capabilities we offer them a scholarship of up to 50 per cent of the total fees. As a result, some students pay less for the same course," said Rajput.
The lead
The students sensed a foul play after their first semester examination in January this year.
"A similar case came into limelight in one of the private institutes at Badarpur border. One of the students from that institute advised we too file an RTI question. We acted accordingly and found out the truth," said Manish Sharma, another student from the same course.
Be warned
On June 11, 2008 the University Grants Commission issued a notification warning students about admission in deemed universities. The UGC said several of these universities were duping students by admitting them into study centers and affiliating colleges, a right they don't have.
Other frauds
May 30, 2009: The vice-chancellor of Singhaniya University, BC Singhania, was arrested in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, for allegedly issuing fake degrees of Bachelor of Education and duping students of lakhs of rupees. The private university gave admission to students against 100 vacancies without an approval from the NCET.
June 12: The Madras High Court ruled that the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) Society in Hyderabad and the ICFAI University in Dehradun had no rights to run centres in Tamil Nadu.
UGC's list of fake universities, 2008
>>Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi (UP) & Jagatpuri, Delhi
>>Commercial Universityu00a0Ltd., Daryaganj, Delhi United Nations University, Delhi
>>Vocational University, Delhi
>>ADR-Centric Juridical University, ADR House, 8J, Gopala Tower, 25 Rajendra Place, New Delhi
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