New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has published a notice warning agaisnt 23 "self-styled, unrecognised" universities, maximum of which are in Uttar Pradesh.
The higher education regulator has warned students against taking admission in these institutions.
"Students and public at large are hereby informed that at present 23 self-styled, unrecognised institutions are functioning in various parts of the country in contravention of the UGC Act," UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain said.
Eight of these universities are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by seven in Delhi. Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Puducherry have a fake university each.
Unrecognised universities in UP are:
Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (Varanasi)
Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Vishwavidyalaya (Prayagraj)
Gandhi Hindi Vidyapeeth (Varanasi)
National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy (Kanpur)
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Open University (Aligarh)
Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya (Mathura)
Maharana Partap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya (Pratapgarh), and
Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad (Noida)
In Delhi, seven unrecognised universities are:
Commercial University Ltd
United Nations University
Vocational University
ADRCentric Juridical University
Indian Institution of Science and Engineering
Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual University) and
Viswakarma Open University for Self-Employment.
Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society (Karnataka), St John's University (Kerala), Raja Arabic University (Maharashtra) and Sree Bodhi Academy of Higher Education (Puducherry) have also been included in the list.
West Bengal and Odisha have two fake universities each – Indian Institute of Alternative Medicine, Institute of Alternative Medicine and Research, Nababharat Shiksha Parishad and North Orissa University of Agriculture Technology.
"In case of Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad in Lucknow, the matter is sub-judice," Jain said.