Madhya Pradesh has launched its toughest crackdown till now on fraud in private colleges, making online payment of salaries mandatory and warning that institutions paying staff in cash will lose recognition. In a fresh order, the Higher Education Department has said private colleges that pay teaching and non-teaching staff in cash will not be granted recognition. They will also be denied the No Objection Certificate (NOC) required to start new faculties or continue existing ones. Without recognition, the affiliated university will not be able to grant affiliation either. The move directly targets the long-running practice of showing ‘ghost’ or fake faculty on paper to secure approval, while actually paying a much smaller staff in cash, leaving no verifiable trail.

 

Under the new rules, colleges applying for recognition, a new faculty, or renewal must submit proof of salary payment through banks. This includes bank statements, the college cash book, and copies of employees’ bank passbooks. Applications without valid bank-payment documents will face action. Colleges must also upload complete staff details on the departmental portal at the time of application - names, photographs, Aadhaar cards, and the university approval letter for each appointee. If a college fails to comply or uploads false information, it can face a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh, depending on the severity of the violation.

 

The order also pushes transparency in fee fixation. At present, the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee fixes course fees on the basis of bank-recorded payments and expenses. The department has now extended the same cashless principle to salaries. The crackdown comes against the backdrop of repeated scandals. Earlier, the Department ordered inspection of all 792 private colleges in the State, and the fake Shivshakti College in Morena was exposed after an EOW investigation. In the nursing college scam, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has also imposed a Rs 3 lakh penalty per duplicate faculty member.