Lok Sabha Question No. 1236 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-08
Subject: Complaints against Private Universities/Institutes and Colleges
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Sudama Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1236 ANSWERED ON - 08/12/2025

## Complaints against Private Universities/Institutes and Colleges

## 1236.   Shri Sudama Prasad:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the persistent low Gross Enrolment Ratio especially among rural and marginalised groups especially women in Bihar and Assam where less than 5 per cent complete higher education, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to tackle the quality gap created by mass proliferation of low standard private colleges/universities and ensure meaningful access rather than hollow numerical growth;
- (c)  the  number  of  complaints  received  by  the  Government  from  students  against  private universities/institutes/colleges regarding academic quality, exorbitant fees and other academic related issues during the last five years, year and State-wise; and
- (d)  whether the Government has received any complaints from SC/ST/OBC/PWD students regarding discrimination and harassment based on caste and disability from  private universities/institutes/colleges during the last five years and if so, the details of college/university/institute and year/State-wise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

- (a): As per the data of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for the year 2022-23 (provisional), the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at national level for all Categories, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) is 29.5, 27.3 and 23.5 respectively. The Female GER in Bihar and Assam stands at 19.9 and 17.8 respectively, which exceeds the Male GER in both states. The category wise and Gender wise GER for Assam, Bihar and India are given in table below:

|           | All Categories   | All Categories   | All Categories   |
|-----------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
| State/UTs | Male             | Female           | Total            |
| Assam     | 17.5             | 19.9             | 18.7             |
| Bihar     | 16.1             | 17.8             | 16.9             |
| All-India | 28.9             | 30.2             | 29.5             |

(b) to (d): Education is in Concurrent List of Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India. As such,  Private  Universities  are  established  by  the  Act  of  respective  State  Legislature.  After receipt of a copy of the Act and Notification issued by the State Government, University Grants Commission (UGC) includes the name of Private Universities under Section 2(f) of UGC Act

1956. These Universities are governed by the State Governments as per their respective Act, Statues, Ordinances, Rules and Regulations. Such universities are also required to follow the relevant  UGC  Regulations  and  Guidelines  issued  from  time  to  time  for  maintenance  of standards of higher education.

The complaints received from the students regarding academic quality, exorbitant fees and other academic related issues are sent to the concerned State Government/University for redressal.  The  fee  in  State  Private  Universities  is  regulated  as  per  the  provisions  of  their Act/Statutes/Rule/Regulation or State Government policy.

The complaints received from SC/ST/OBC/PWD students regarding discrimination or harassment based on caste or disability are dealt by UGC under the UGC (Prevention of CasteBased  Discrimination)  Regulations,  2012  and  relevant  UGC  Guidelines  for  persons  with disabilities.  In  general,  all  complaints  are  examined  and  forwarded  to  the  concerned University/College for necessary action and compliance. Institutions are required to submit action-taken  reports,  ensure  non-discrimination  and  maintain  a  mechanism  for  redressing grievances of students belonging to SC/ST/OBC/PWD.

The list of fake universities, updated from time-to-time, is available on the website of the University Grants Commission (UGC) at https://www.ugc.gov.in/universitydetails/Fakeuniversity.  Currently,  24  Institutions  figure  in the list.

Apart from issuing public Notices for general awareness through social media and UGC website for cautioning the general public, students, parents and other stakeholder, the following steps have also been taken by the UGC/Government against such fake universities:

- i. The  Government  as  well  as  the  UGC  have  requested  the  Chief  Secretaries  of  all State/UT Governments to take appropriate action against those involved in defrauding and  cheating  students  by  misrepresenting  themselves  as  'Universities',  awarding degrees and using the word 'University' with their name.
- ii. UGC also writes letter to the Principal Secretaries/Secretaries of all the States & UTs to inform all school education boards in their respective States to remain vigilant and to advise the students to verify the credentials of Higher Education Institutions through the Official website of UGC before applying for admission.
- iii. The UGC issues Show Causes Notice/Warning Notice/Letter to the respective selfstyled educational institution that is functioning in violation of UGC Regulations and awarding invalid degrees and directs them to stop the illegal activities and submit the compliance report to UGC.
- iv. Writes  letter  to  the  respective  State  Governments  informing  them  about  the  illegal activities  of  the  self-styled  institution  and  request  them  to  take  appropriate  action against it under intimation to UGC.
- v. In spite of the UGC directions, if that self-styled institution does not follow the UGC directions or does not submit the compliance report within the stipulated time, its name is included in the UGC list of fake Universities. The updated list of fake universities is also uploaded on the UGC website.
- vi. FIRs have been lodged against several self-styled institutions/universities.
- vii. Show  Causes  Notices/Warning  Notices  have  also  been  issued  to  the  unauthorized institutes awarding invalid degrees.

As a result, 12 fake universities have been closed since 2014.

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