This year the pandemic has shifted the whole admission process online. The Delhi University admissions are all set to begin from 12th October 2020. The concerned authorities fear the submission of fake documents and forgeries this year.
As students are not required to physically visit the colleges and verify the documents, the forensic experts fear malpractices on the hand of the applicants. Delhi University alleges that even after the admission the paperwork and all the documents will be checked when the college reopens. However, experience shows that some colleges are reluctant in checking the documents with utmost accuracy.
Moreover, to identify these discrepancies will consume months. Consider the case of DUSU President Ankiv Basoya, when he nominated himself for the union elections the authorities came to know that his documents were fake.
The Forensic Experts release guidelines for the universities to check while verifying the documents. They must authenticate the names of parents and the candidates. Then the font should be verified from the original documents. Universities must check the emblem of the institution with the one appearing in the document. The position of words, signatures should be checked. Lastly, the authorities must beware of the uneven spacing of words.
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Associate professor of chemistry at SGTB Khalsa College, GS Sodhi admits the concern of forged and fake documents being used by the applicants. He agrees that its probability is higher in the current year. He added that the teachers already have a lot of work pressure and a tight academic calendar, so they might be reluctant in checking the documents meticulously. Sodhi and his team have experience of few years in conducting forensic verification of documents.
He said that an improved mechanism must have been designed by the institutions to check the font, letter spacing, emblems, etc. The papers found doubtful in the preliminary check can be set aside to further check the watermark, printing, quality of paper, certificate weight, etc.
The verification process consumes a large part of the admission process, said Sunil Singh, in charge of admissions for 2 years at the Kirori Mal College. Thus, people often get discouraged to work diligently. He added that in their college they told 22 students to verify the originality of their documents who were from the West Bengal education board.
Singh said that his college strictly checks every document. Even the CBSE issued ones are verified. However, other Delhi University colleges have to follow proper mechanisms as they do not have a strong process for verification.
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When verification showed that DUSU president Basoya’s Bachelors’s degree from Thiruvalluvar University was fake. The case came to light in November 2018 and his admission to the department of Buddhist studies was taken back. However, it took months to verify the documents.
The students have to sign an undertaking which says that the documents uploaded by them are authentic and in case of any forgery the admission will be terminated, said Manoj Khanna Principal of Ramjas College.
There is news of conducting a meeting with the colleges to verify the paperwork. It was assured by the Dean of admissions, Shobha Bagai. She added that the documents related to sports and extra-curricular activities need the utmost attention. The CBSE board documents are available online, so they won’t need verification. As a solution, she said that either the colleges can conduct the forensic verification of the admission process or appoint an external organization.
