Assam Education Minister Affirms Inability of his Department to Detect Fake Degree Holders

The recent remarks of Education Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma, have raised concerns and reactions from many. In the Assembly, he affirmed that even his department is not serious about detecting fake certificate holders.

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Replying to a question of BJP MLA Ashwini Ray Sarkar, he said that his department, instead of taking an initiative, has been trying to protect some of the accused. The accused have been appointed as college teachers based on their fake certificates of Ph.D. degrees.

The minister even assured the assembly that he will himself look into the matter personally. He clarified that when he got the answer of the question, in the Zero Hour question from his department, he was not satisfied. He expressed that there is a tendency in the department to protect the accused by giving them jobs through fake degrees in the state. The education department of the state should take adequate measures to detect such fake degree holders. The department officials have not shown any alertness in this regard.

The minister further said that education department of the state will contact the UGC to verify and authenticate degree holders and will also seek information on doubtful universities offering fake Ph.D. degrees.

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The Education Minister, replying to another question, said that most of the TET-passed candidates of the state have a wrong perception that after clearing TET they will get jobs in schools. In fact, TET only makes one eligible for the teaching posts. It does not guarantee any jobs. The jobs of TET teachers, working under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, will further be regularised after the creation of additional posts of appointment of teachers.