Karnataka: 40 with fake PhDs barred from interview for Assistant Professor's post

Bengaluru: Around 40 candidates were barred when they tried to hoodwink authorities to become assistant professors in the government first grade colleges of the state.

According to Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) officials, which released the final list of 2,160 successful candidates on January 2, 40 candidates were removed after it was found that they had submitted fake documents, including PhDs. They were suspended from the appointment process.

As per the appointment guidelines, a candidate must either clear NET/ SLET or hold PhD degree to apply for Assistant Professor’s post. According to KEA sources, these candidates had furnished information that they had pursued their Phd in the universities of neighboring states. But when KEA sent their documents for verification, it was found that they didn't follow the rules and regulations while getting their PhDs.

An officer from the state higher education department told this newspaper that few years ago when state government filled assistant professors posts, it was alleged that many candidates had used fake PhDs and MPhil degrees, mostly from Tamil Nadu open universities, to get the job. “To put full stop to such irregularities we sent all the documents furnished by the candidates for the verification. At this stage, we found these 40 PhDs were fake,” he said.

According to the officials, these 40 candidates had applied to teach Mathematics, English, Political Science and Computer Science. “Majority of the candidates had applied for English teaching posts. We didn't find any irregularities in other subjects,” he added.

False reservation claim
Eleven women candidates missed posts as KEA cancelled their reservation following the findings that they didn’t mention the income of their husbands in the application. "In the income column they had mentioned their income alone to claim reservation benefit. But when we found that they are married and their husbands are also earning, we cancelled their reservation,” said KEA sources.