JOIN USCentre to do 'random' checks for authenticity of data furnished by higher educational institutions
Higher educational institutions will witness much closer scrutiny of records by the Central government from this year.
The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has decided to conduct "random" verification of the data to be submitted by universities and colleges for the annual survey of higher educational institutions in India.
The decision has been taken to ensure that the institutions do not submit "false data" and "strict action" is taken against those doing so.
"We will conduct random verification of the data to be submitted by higher educational institutions for All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) from now on," HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
The minister released the latest AISHE report on Friday.
Violation of rules
During the collection of data from higher educational institutions, the ministry detected instances of gross violation of rules by a large number of faculty members and private institutes. About 80,000 teachers were found to have been on the payroll of more than one higher educational institution as their regular faculty members in gross violation of the University Grants Commission's (UGC) regulations.
The HRD ministry's move to link Aadhaar data of faculty members of the country's higher educational institutions with a central database exposed this scam.
"We believe that 90% of the data collected from institutions for AISHE 2016-17 is correct. But the possibility of some institutes, particularly private ones, submitting false data cannot be ruled out as the ministry depends on them for collection of data," official sources in the ministry told DH .
The ministry has already brought in many changes in the way data is collected for the annual AISHE report since 2011-12. Last year, the UGC made it mandatory for all higher educational institutions to furnish data for the AISHE, notifying new regulations for it on the instructions of HRD ministry.
"The collection of reliable and real-time data on various aspects of higher educational institutions is significant for formulation of policies and taking corrective measures. The exercise will also help bring in transparency in the functioning of the institutions. It is for this reason the ministry has decided to conduct random verification of data to be submitted by the institutions," sources said.