Agra University sent unsigned degree certificate to student

Agra: In yet another case of carelessness, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University after months of delay sent an unsigned degree certificate to a student. The academic document sent by post on the address of the student had no signature of vice-chancellor Arvind Kumar Dixit or registrar KN Singh. When the student complained, she was asked to submit the degree certificate for correction.

But even after making several rounds to the varsity office, she has not been able to get the correct marksheet.

A student of Master of Dental Studies (MDS), after completion of course, applied for a degree certificate in 2018. Following several months of delay, the student lodged a complaint at the office of the registrar. Last month, the student’s degree certificate was sent by post to her house.

The certificate, a copy of which is available with TOI, had a blank on the space for signature of the vice-chancellor and registrar, making it invalid.

The student said, “The degree certificate issued by the university is just a piece of paper. It has no validity. I have made several rounds to varsity offices for a valid degree certificate. Every time, staffers provide some illogical reason and ask me to come later. I don’t know how to deal with the situation.”

When asked, university public relation officer GS Sharma said, “It is just a clerical mistake that the degree certificate of the student doesn’t have the signature of the vice-chancellor and registrar. Degree section staff should have properly checked the certificate before sending it. The student will be provided a proper degree certificate without any further delay.”

On a daily basis, a large number of applicants visit university offices to get their marksheet and degree certificate or get an error corrected in their academic documents. Students allege that the delay in issuance of certificate and errors in them are intentionally introduced to force students to pay bribe to get them corrected.

Around 1.5 lakh degree certificates of students who graduated from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University four years ago are yet to be issued. Even after much delay, the university administration has not been able to clear the backlog. In October 2018, vice-chancellor Dixit and registrar Singh had declared that all the pending degree certificates of the academic session of 2014-15 would be issued within in the next three months. For the purpose, a target to issue 3,000 degree certificates every day was set. However, the target has not been achieved yet.