Guwahati, July 25: The Assam education department will investigate nearly 35 college principals following complaints that they had allegedly submitted fake PhD certificates or taken doctorate degrees from dubious universities from outside the state.

Sources told The Telegraph that the education department had recently suspended Zahirul Islam, the principal of Rajib Gandhi Memorial College, Lengtisinga, in lower Assam's Bongaigaon district, for submitting a fake doctorate degree certificate.

"We are going to investigate cases of the principals against whom we have received complaints of submitting fake certificates or taking doctorate degrees from dubious universities outside the state," the source in the directorate of higher education said.

The source said the department was worried that the college principals, who are paid more than administrative officers and are supposed to be instrumental in shaping the lives of students, have indulged in fraud.

The department is mulling stringent measures regarding accepting PhD certificates for college teachers.

The source said the education department would accept only those PhD degrees as valid which have been taken from universities affiliated to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said in a review meeting in May, "We will not accept PhD or MPhil degrees if they are from universities that have not been assessed by the NAAC in the previous three years from the year a candidate has taken his degree."

The source said the state government had been strictly following the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of MPhil/PhD Degrees) Regulations, 2016.

"As part of making the appointment process more stringent, we have made research guideship from affiliating university mandatory for becoming a college," said the source.

The system, however, has put a college teacher of Arya Vidyapeeth College here in a fix.

The teacher had applied for the principal's post of the college with research guideship from the state's only government-run distance education university, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University.

His application was cancelled by the directorate of higher education saying that Arya Vidyapeeth College was not affiliated to the open university. This means that with research guideship from the open university, a college teacher will be not eligible to apply for the principal's post of any college in the state.

"A section of college principals has also siphoned off funds provided by the University Grants Commission. The principal of Bilasipara College in lower Assam's Dhubri district has been suspended and an inquiry is on against the principal of Cachar College in Silchar in Barak Valley in connection with financial irregularities," said the source.