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The Times of India
The Times of India
National
Vaibhav Ganjapure | TNN

Avoid admissions in Wardha’s digital university: UGC

NAGPUR: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has cautioned students from taking admission at Wardha’s Digital University of Skill Resurgence (DRSU-A Virtual Meta University) terming it as “self-styled institution”.

A public notice issued by secretary Rajnish Jain, said DRSU, based at Samrat Nagar on Ring Road, is offering courses/programmes in gross violation of the UGC Act, 1956.

Raja Arabic University from the city is listed among 24 fake institutions in the UGC’s annual list and it is the only one from Maharashtra.

DRSU registrar Kaushal Agrawal, who claimed to have established the university during the Covid-19 pandemic, expressed surprise. “We do not offer any degree but provide only short-term courses ranging from two to four weeks. All these are job-oriented courses basically targeted at the youths. We do not have any official address as we are a digital university. Ours is a new institution and I have rented one office at Wardha.”

Prem Patanjali is the vice chancellor of this university while Tapati Base is its pro-VC. Rinju Rai is the chairperson of the board of governors, as per DRSU’s website.

Established by NGO Society for Applied Development and Research (SADAR), it offers certificate courses like data journalism, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, Vedic mathematics, google tools, mobile journalism, data science, web journalism and others in virtual mode.

“We charge minimal fee (₹500-₹999) for these courses. We have just completed one year, and 55-60 students have enrolled with us so far. We rely on visiting teachers,” Trivedi said.

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