Fake degrees help dowry seekers
The Asian Age - April 8, 2005

In Mumbai, one can easily lay his hands on fake university and college degree certificates or doctored marks operations through agents.

The evil of fake certificates touches upon social issues too, like dowry. Mr. Terence Iyer (name changed) said, “In South India, a person with a MBBS tag can get a huge dowry. So, if one has spent Rs 30 lakhs for a degree, he can get Rs 50 lakhs in dowry. The more qualified you are, the more money you get in dowry.”

In 2002, the Economic Offences Wing had arrested over 450 doctors with fake degrees issued by O.S. Usmani who worked with the Medical Council of India. Usmani, would sell fake degrees for Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.

Doctors from Pune, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Dhule and Solapur were arrested. Around 423 doctors have been chargesheeted in this case. Usmani was arrested a day before he was to leave for the US.

However, this problem lies in the universities and colleges themselves. Mr. Ravi, a CA, said, “The agent is usually an official from the office of the university or the college. For them, to produce authentic certificates take a little time but the work gets done.”

Fake documents have multiple uses. In Mumbai, many outstation workers rely on these fake documents to get into a government or student hostels as is the case at a men’s hostel in Dongri. Mr. Sanman (name changed) from the Dongri hostel said, “I have a fake Ferguson College marksheet and a certification letter with all the relevant details like a roll number. Now, I have a hostel accommodation without any hassles.”

Even MNCs and other corporations, despite their HRD screening the candidates, face problems of dubious candidates.

To deal with the problem, some have enlisted Quest Research, an international firm, for screening the candidates.

Mr. Yogesh Bhura, managing director, South Asia, Quest Screening Services Pvt. Ltd, said, “Quest conducts background checks for multinationals and professionally-managed companies where we average five percent candidates with fake degree certificates. Though, these firms have stringent hiring practices, the problem still exists. In other job segments, which would be representative of the overall job market, this percentage could be as high as 20 percent.”