RIYADH, 15 July — The Indian Embassy has tightened measures to curb the growing menace of fake degree certificates being produced by Indian expatriates for attestation.
The embassy, at the behest of the ambassador, has warned those seeking attestation of certificates that such documents will be impounded for further investigation if they are found to be bogus at first sight.
An Indian Embassy source told Arab News that in taking the initiative to stem the rot, the ambassador cited a circular issued recently by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi according to which the University Grants Commission (UGC) has discovered that 16 Indian universities are not authorized to issue degree certificates. UGC is a federal regulatory agency for higher education in India.
However, the source clarified that Indian expatriates use bogus certificates usually for bringing in their families "and not for getting jobs." This group constitutes only one percent of those who had submitted their degree certificates for attestation. The figure is very low compared to those of other countries."
He said if the embassy team, during its consular visits, comes to suspect that a degree certificate under scrutiny is not genuine, it will be retained for closer examination. There is circumstantial evidence that certificates submitted by applicants from Meerut and Rajasthan have at times been found to be fake. "The embassy will keep such certificates in its file pending further investigation." `
In this context, the source said that a particular public notary who had attested a bogus certificate this year had been found to be in the business of attesting such certificates since 1972, when he had certified a similar fake document during that year.
Another evidence, according to him, was that even the name of the degree on the certificate had not been spelt correctly. Thus ‘Biotechnology’ in a particular fake degree certificate had been misspelt as ‘byotechnology’. Recently the Saudi Health Ministry blacklisted some Indians after they had been found to be in possession of bogus certificates.
"It is for this reason that the embassy always scrutinizes medical certificates thoroughly as it is a matter of human life. Our inquiries have revealed that that the attestation seal used in certain cases itself was bogus."
The source appealed to Indian expatriates in the Kingdom to refrain from such practices, as it brings a bad name to the community, their country, and also creates an embarrassing situation for the embassy.
Moreover, it does no good to indulge in such fraudulent practices in the Kingdom, the source said, adding: "So the embassy warns the Indian community not to support this type of bogus certificate business."
