Background: why this RTI was filed
Claims about schooling and claims about degrees are often made on the same letterhead, and it is easy to assume one regulator stands behind both. It does not. The UGC's remit begins at higher education; what happens below that level is a matter for school boards and state school authorities.
This RTI put six questions to the UGC, two of them about school education and the rest about Singhania University in Rajasthan. The reply separates them cleanly.
| Document | Reply under the Right to Information Act, 2005 |
| Reference | F.No.1-410/2024(RIA)/(CPP-I/PU) |
| Dated | July 2024 |
| Authority | University Grants Commission, Ministry of Education, Government of India, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110 002 |
| Issued by | (R.I.S. Bhardwaj), Under Secretary & CPIO |
| Application | RTI letter dated 05.06.2024, received in this office on 21.06.2024 |
| Institution | Singhania University, Pacheri Bari, Dt. Jhunjunu – 333 515, Rajasthan |
What the document says
Questions 1 and 2 are disposed of in one line: School Education does not fall under purview of the UGC. No further answer is given, because the Commission has no jurisdiction to give one.
Question 3 is the substantive answer about the university. The UGC records that Singhania University, Pacheri Bari, Dt. Jhunjunu – 333 515, Rajasthan was established or notified on 29.03.2008 by an Act of the State Legislature of Rajasthan as a State Private University.
It sets out the limits in the Commission's standard form. The university may award only such degrees as specified by the UGC under the Specification of Degrees 2014 notification and its amendments, under section 22 of the UGC Act 1956, through its main campus in regular mode, with the approval of statutory bodies and councils and after creating the required academic and physical infrastructure.
On centres: not authorised beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the state, following Prof. Yashpal vs. State of Chhattisgarh; not permitted to open centres even within the state without UGC approval; and the UGC has not granted any approval to the University to open an off campus or study centre. Franchising with private coaching institutions is excluded, even for distance mode.
Question 4 was forwarded to the Distance Education Bureau. Questions 5 and 6 drew the answer that no material information is available on the subject matter.
One limitation should be stated plainly. The letter is paginated as five pages and only the first two are present in the document held. Nothing on this page is drawn from the missing pages.
Key findings
School education is outside the UGC's remit
Questions 1 and 2 are answered in a single line: School Education does not fall under purview of the UGC. Those questions must go to a school board or the state school education authority.
No UGC approval for any off-campus or study centre
The reply states that the UGC has not granted any approval to the University to open an off campus or study centre.
Only UGC specified degrees, from the main campus
The university may award only such degrees as specified by the UGC under the Specification of Degrees 2014 notification, through its main campus in regular mode.
Franchising with coaching institutions is excluded
The university cannot offer programmes through a franchising arrangement with private coaching institutions, even for distance mode.
Established 29.03.2008 by Rajasthan state Act
The UGC records establishment or notification on 29.03.2008 by an Act of the State Legislature of Rajasthan as a State Private University.
Part of the reply is not in the document held
The letter is paginated as five pages; pages 3 to 5 are absent from the source document, and nothing from them is relied on here.
“School Education does not fall under purview of the UGC.”
— UGC, F.No.1-410/2024(RIA)/(CPP-I/PU), July 2024
What employers and students should know
If a claim concerns school-level qualifications, the UGC is not the authority to ask and a UGC reply will not settle it. The school board named on the certificate, or the state school education department, is where that check belongs.
If the claim concerns a degree, two separate things need to be true: the university must be empowered to award that degree, and the teaching must have happened somewhere the university may lawfully teach. This reply affirms the first in general terms and denies any approved centre outside the main campus.
Where a coaching institution or franchised centre appears anywhere in the chain, the UGC's answer excludes that arrangement for this university — including for courses conducted through distance mode.
- Separate school-level claims from degree-level claims before deciding whom to ask.
- For a school certificate, write to the board named on it or the state school education authority.
- For a degree, ask which campus taught the programme, and get the answer in writing.
- Write to the university's registrar quoting the enrolment number to verify the individual record.
- For distance-mode claims, approach the Distance Education Bureau of the UGC, to which question 4 was forwarded.
- Keep the reply reference — F.No.1-410/2024(RIA)/(CPP-I/PU) — with any file you build.
What this record shows:
- The UGC states that school education does not fall under its purview.
- The UGC states Singhania University was established/notified on 29.03.2008 by an Act of the Rajasthan State Legislature as a State Private University.
- The UGC states it has granted no approval for any off campus or study centre.
- The UGC states the university cannot offer programmes through franchising with private coaching institutions.
What it does not show:
- It does not answer anything about school education, which is outside the Commission's remit.
- It does not name or confirm the existence of any particular centre.
- It does not state that any particular degree or certificate is genuine or forged.
- It does not include pages 3 to 5 of the reply, which are absent from the document held and are not relied on.
Every statement on this page is drawn from the official document described above. Readers should rely on the original document and the issuing authority for any decision.