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The Al-Falah affair is a reminder that the system that certifies credibility in higher education has become nearly incapable of identifying the worst possible red flags.
The private university was running at least nine educational institutions covering streams such as humanities, languages, molecular sciences, engineering and medical sciences. File photo/PTI
The arrest of the owner-founder of Al-Falah University and the crackdown on several medical colleges earlier this week should not shock anyone. Instead, what is really shocking is that India’s higher education bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the National Medical Commission (NMC), and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), failed to see what was happening right under their noses. Over the years, higher education regulators and related authorities, which grant recognition Al-Falah University And grants allowed, a sluggish bureaucracy remains. They were heavy on circulars, light on investigation, heavy on regulation, and silent on the ground. There was no periodic inspection.
The Al-Falah affair is just the latest reminder that the system that certifies credibility in higher education has become nearly incapable of identifying the worst possible red flags.
Long before the explosion, all the signs were there
The private university was running at least nine educational institutions covering streams such as humanities, languages, molecular sciences, engineering and medical sciences. The authorization of two of its schools expired at least two years ago. Al-Falah University has been asked to “show cause” by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) for providing “misleading” information. However, the action took place after the Red Fort road blast.
This shows that there was no monitoring of such a widely spread network of a private university located several kilometers away from the country’s capital. This matter, if exposed earlier, should itself have triggered surveillance, documentation checks and enforcement steps.
Instead, no due diligence was done, no verification was done, and no investigation was done into how an unregistered institution continued to function, admit students and issue degrees. Regulators never asked basic questions, like when was the last time its team visited the premises? Who verified the records?
India’s intelligence infrastructure is already saturated with political networks, foreign-funded operations and a growing population, which is itself very diverse and resistant to being pigeonholed into a single identity.
Yet, while the security establishment grapples with the complexities, the education regulator appears to be operating with a surprising lack of curiosity. The clip circulating on social media that has sparked disgust everywhere is just one symptom; The disease is the absence of a functioning verification architecture in India’s higher education sector.
a planned operation in which red flags were raised
This is not just a bureaucratic mistake. But, as the investigation progresses, a massive leak-plant operation is revealed. A system designed to ensure quality and legality is instead providing convenient blind spots. Regulators have, over time, become passive collectors of paperwork rather than active guardians of standards.
The Commission’s default approach is to rely on declarations and not observe realities. Its protocols are stuck in an era where affidavits and letters matter, even as modern academic fraud is digitally sophisticated, internally networked, and often politically veiled.
The Al-Falah case highlights the consequences. Institutions that shouldn’t exist continue to shape young lives, regulatory warnings disappear into files, safety flags are ignored, and a parallel ecosystem apparently thrives. The problem is not just administrative; This is structural. A regulator which does not verify from time to time cannot regulate.
Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (Policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for almost 14 years. She has been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues extensively. He has covered the map…read more
Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (Policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for almost 14 years. She has been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues extensively. He has covered the map… read more
November 28, 2025, 08:00 IST
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