St Stephen's acting principal Thampu's PhD fails UGC test

Now it’s confirmed that his PhD is not recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the statutory body of the Government overseeing standards of university education in the country.

Thampu’s PhD certificate — a copy of which is with The Indian Express — shows him as enrolled at the minority Allahabad Agricultural Institute-Deemed University (AAI-DU) as a PhD student of Theology from January 2005 to November 2007. His subject: HIV-AIDS, Gospel and Culture: A Theological Enquiry into the Interface between Gospel and Culture in respect of a global pandemic.

In a written reply to a detailed questionnaire sent by The Indian Express, the UGC today said that as per the law (Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956), the commission has not “specified any degree in the name and style of Bachelor in divinity, Masters in Theology and Doctorate in Theology”.

In fact, an investigation by The Indian Express reveals that AAI-DU, the university that awarded him the degree, is not authorised by the UGC to run its Theology courses, including a PhD.

This is confirmed by the UGC: “The AAI-DU is a deemed university with Agriculture as a chosen field of specialization. The deemed university status was recommended for this institution on the basis of academic assessment covering the UG and PG courses being conducted by the institute at the time of inspection of UGC expert committee. The report of the Committee did not convey any recommendation on the Theological courses.”

In a letter to all deemed universities in March 2004, the UGC directed them to seek prior approval for opening new centres and introducing new courses.

While Thampu was unavailable for comment, media advisor of St Stephen’s College Vinod Chowdhury said he had “nothing to say.”

Official records reveal another alleged irregularity. Rev Dr Jagdhari Masih, who “supervised” Thampu’s PhD, was not a regular faculty member at the university during the period Thampu says he was enrolled. But UGC rules clearly specify that only a regular faculty member can supervise course work and research in pursuance of a PhD degree, with secondary assistance from a visiting faculty if required.

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