Centre to tighten private university norms

With complaints of malpractice against private universities at an all-time high, the central government has decided to put strict checks in place.

In the last nine years, the number of private universities in the country has risen by 14-fold. And along with it, reports of malpractice, fake degrees, financial irregularities have also increased.

Fake degrees, irregularities in finance and other operations and a three-fold increase in complaints in the last couple of years have forced the government and higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission (UGC), to take a close look at state private universities, said two government officials, requesting anonymity.

In a report in the Indian Express, various private universities have come under careful scrutiny by the government and the UGC, under executive orders of the Union government over quality concerns.

"In recent times, the number of complaints received from such universities has almost doubled from what HRD ministry and UGC received against deemed universities. Irregularities call for a close scrutiny," a government official said.

Currently, there are 741 universities with 228 private universities.