JAIPUR: The secret of 70% surge in PhD enrolments in 2016-17 compared to 2015-16, touted as the highest in the country, is out. An inquiry conducted by the state government into four private universities have revealed that the universities have been giving PhD degrees flouting UGC and state government rules, since years.Enrolments for PhDs shot up from 4,134 in 2015-16 to 7,010 in 2016-17, said All India Survey On Higher Education (AISHE) 2016-17 in its report released in January this year.The state was quick to boast about the achievement and did not bother to find out what led to such a steep rise in enrolments.The universities, which include Shri Jagdishprasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University (SJJTU), Bhagwant Univesity, Shridhar University and OPJS, have been found offering PhDs in subjects which they do not have in their curriculum.S C Baradiya, faculty of Rajasthan University, who investigated the complaints against Shridhar University in Jhunjhunu was surprised when the university failed to provide him the attendance register of PhD scholars."The university is running without a single professor or an associate professor. It has no resources to enrol PhD students," said Baradiya. He said the university also failed to provide him basic information like year-wise enrolments.The report on other two universities, Bhagwant and OPJS, prepared by professor Anil Kothari of MLS University in Udaipur unearthed similar facts.SJJTU was served a notice by the Rajasthan higher education department for flouting norms in PhD programme.The distinguished PhD alumni in the university includes president of a leading private bank , a senior security officer in the ministry of civil aviation, vice-president of a nationalized telecom company, and an IAF officer along with students from the US, the UK, Australia, Iran and Muscat etc.

Stay updated with all the Latest Jaipur headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.