The Dhanekula Institute of Engineering and Technology (DIET) at Gangur in Penamluru mandal of Krishna district is one of the two colleges in the Telugu states to be blacklisted by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) for five years for submitting fabricated certificates. The other one is Malla Reddy College of Engineering (MRCE) in Telangana.
The NAAC informed its decision in separate letters sent to the Principals of the two colleges. A letter received by the DIET Principal Kadiyala Ravi said that the Self Study Report (SSR), the primary document which is the foundation for the review team’s judgement of whether a programme meets its criteria for accreditation, was found to be either fabricated or manipulated.
The accreditation agency said the documents contained superimposed signature, signatures were inserted and the letterhead of the college had watermark logo of Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC).
Finding the college’s reply to the show cause notice issued by it “neither convincing nor satisfactory”, the NAAC placed the issue before its Executive Council, which in turn decided to cancel the SSR and blacklist the institute for five years.
“We have a Memorandum of Understanding with the APSSDC and we are one of the active partners, implementing collaborative programmes on a regular basis. While presenting the college data in the SSR, the teacher concerned sent it along with the logo of the Skill Development Corporation,” said the college Principal Ravi.
Speaking to The Hindu , he said “we are authorised to use the logo but it has not been accepted by the NAAC”. When asked about the impact of the NAAC decision on the college, he said: “We strive for quality and we will continue to do that,” and went on to add “as a technical institution, we are more concerned with the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Four of our programmes are affiliated to the NBA.”
The MRCE in Telangana also faces charges of submitting fabricated certificates purported to have been issued by BHEL, Yash Technologies and Airtel. The NAAC is reported to have said that the seal, signature and letterhead aspects are fabricated and that the digital expertise opinion obtained by it confirmed the possibility of digital fabrication.
