Rajasthan’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has uncovered a sweeping fraud in the Physical Training Instructor (PTI) recruitment process of 2022. As many as 167 individuals, including 165 selected candidates, have been booked for submitting fraudulent BPEd degrees from JS University, Shikohabad, which upon closer inspection were discovered to be largely backdated or printed during the recruitment phase, rather than at any legitimate academic session .
Unusually High Stealing of Credentials
An astonishing detail in the investigation revealed that 2,082 candidates claimed BPEd degrees from JS University during the PTI selection—despite the institution only being authorized to admit 100 students per session. Over four sessions (2017–2022), the university could issue at most 400 genuine degrees, making the scale of fabrication alarmingly clear .
Key Findings from the FIR
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Marksheet Anomalies: Of the 203 selected candidates whose documents were scrutinized, only one individual had a marksheet from the officially designated session. The rest had degrees printed during or just before verification—many on October 15, 2022, which coincided with the document-check phase .
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“Switcheroo” Deception:
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25 candidates initially claimed enrollment at other universities but later presented BPEd certificates from JS University during verification.
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26 candidates submitted degrees with academic sessions mismatched against their application forms.
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9 candidates had listed a diploma in their application but produced a BPEd certificate later.
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43 candidates submitted degrees dated after the recruitment cutoff—indicating the degree was procured post-selection.
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Institutional Complicity and Prior Arrests
The probe builds on earlier arrests in March 2024 of the Chancellor and Registrar of JS University and a key middleman linked to the issuance of fake degrees. Evidence suggests a coordinated effort involving university officials and brokers to print degrees on demand, timed around document verification windows .
FIR and Charges Filed
The SOG has officially filed charges against 167 individuals—including the 165 purportedly selected candidates, university administrators, and unnamed accomplices. Legal proceedings include charges for cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and impersonation. Digital and server-based evidence is being trawled to expose the full network behind the scandal.
Broader Educational and Recruitment Failures
This scandal has exposed deep-rooted failings in India’s credential verification systems:
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Candidate over-enrollment far exceeding permissible quotas.
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Reliance on self-declared academic qualifications, with minimal checks against university-issued databases.
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Overlooked digital timestamp discrepancies, which would have flagged post-selection degree production.
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Cracks in regulatory profiling, especially with private universities issuing dubious credentials, not just in Rajasthan but across other states like Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat.
Moving Forward: Impacts and Reforms
With document verification underway and legal actions expanding, Rajasthan officials have committed to:
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Reopening recruitment for vacated PTI positions with stricter vetting.
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Digital cross-check linkages between recruiting agencies and university databases to authenticate degrees in real time.
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Examining university accreditation and validity of large batch certifications.
Advocates of reform are demanding the introduction of blockchain-based degree validation, QR-code authentication of credentials, and heightened central oversight for private academic institutions.
Final Takeaway
The PTI‑2022 fake degree scandal is more than a case of forged documents—it’s a systemic failure in how public recruitment and education oversight have functioned. With nearly 200 fraudulent degrees identified among 203 vetted candidates—and only one genuine qualification found—the scale of deception is staggering. The case underscores the need for tighter institutional checks and greater accountability at the crossroads of education and public service.
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