Maheshwer Peri@maheshperi
I am surprised at the outrage over the Robodog and Orion. Academic fraud is inbuilt into Indian education systems and sanctioned by the powers that be. When India created an incentive structure where business benefits are tied to rankings, this had to happen.
Autonomy, graded autonomy, opening fresh campuses, starting new courses, permission to offer online degrees was all tied to rankings – NIRF or QS. At a governmental level, the diktat is to get into QS so that India can make big claims, each year. Even the PM tweets when the rankings are declared. Here is an example of how rankings benefit businesses:
“HEI can be entitled to offer online programmes (i.e., entered into the “entitled list” without requiring prior approval every time) if it meets one of the following:
- Valid NAAC score ≥ 3.26, OR
- Rank in Top 100 in the University category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework at least twice in three preceding cycles.
The warning signals were always there. It is just that we chose to ignore as we can continue to make tall claims:
1. When we saw that all the IITs together aren’t doing as much research as a few private universities on their own, we should have questioned the quality of research.
2. In THE rankings, IISc has a research Score of 51.6 while 5 private universities have a score of 90+. There are 70+ universities that are ranked above IISc in research alone.
3. We have patent filings increasing while patents granted was never increasing. We had four private universities filing for more patents, individually, than the combined IITS added together.
4. In Oct 2024, Chemistry World did an article: Are Indian higher education institutes gaming the ranking system?”
5. In Aug 2025, Nature Magazine wrote: India’s research retraction surge sparks call for reform
6. In Sep 2024, The Print wrote: “India’s research crime is getting worse: Scientists are gaming peer-review system”
7. In Jan 2025, Retraction Watch wrote “The 14 universities with publication metrics researchers say are too good to be true”. 4 of the 14 are from India and all are private universities.
8. In Jan 2026, ToI wrote: “Universities rush to file patents for rankings, few acquire commercial value”
The only way we can achieve a 50 GER target with no corresponding investment is to do away with questioning quality and auditing numbers. We have to enable a few institutions to give online degrees and produce degree mills so that we can claim a 50 GER in 2020. It is systemic and well planned.
I repeat - Academic Fraud is systematically inbuilt into India’s Education system.
