The Save University Campaign Committee has accused SFI Kerala state secretary P M Arsho of securing admission to an MA program without passing his BA. The committee claims Arsho, a student of the five-year integrated Archaeology course at Government Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, did not pass his sixth semester but was still granted admission to the seventh semester, equivalent to a Postgraduate (MA) level.
The committee alleges that Arsho, who had only 10% attendance instead of the required 75 per cent, was allowed to sit for the fifth and sixth-semester exams and was admitted to the next stage in violation of rules. According to the university’s regulations, a student must accumulate 120 credits to qualify for admission to the seventh semester. The campaign group claims Arsho has not even appeared for his sixth-semester exams.
The Save University Campaign Committee has submitted a formal petition to Kerala Governor Dr. Arif Mohammed Khan, the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, and the Director of Collegiate Education, seeking action. They further allege that Arsho’s admission was facilitated by instructions from the college principal.
According to the committee’s memorandum, the government’s directive was to complete all examinations by June and announce the results accordingly. While the college adhered to the schedule for other courses, no examinations were held for the Archaeology degree students.
The committee claims that all students in the Archaeology course, including SFI Kerala state secretary P.M. Arsho, were promoted without taking the sixth-semester examinations, with results not declared. As a result, Arsho gained admission to the seventh semester, despite allegedly being ineligible to appear for the examinations due to low attendance.
Further allegations suggest that the college authorities deliberately skipped the final semester examinations to ensure Arsho’s promotion.
Academicians have pointed out that since Maharaja’s College is an autonomous institution, Mahatma Gandhi University, which is affiliated with the college, may not have the authority to intervene or take corrective action.
Last year, our journal reported on a controversial case involving SFI leader Arsho. Arsho was at the center of a scandal when he reportedly received his exam results without actually sitting for the exams at Maharaja College. Initially, the Principal claimed this was due to a “fault” in the National Informatics Centre (NIC) software. Arsho himself later admitted that he had not appeared for the exams. Despite this, the college authorities struggled to explain how his results were posted online without verifying the necessary documents.
They initially argued that since Arsho had paid the examination fee, the computer system automatically generated the result. When Arsho requested proof of this payment, the Principal reversed the claim, stating that after a thorough investigation, it was confirmed that Arsho had not paid the fee. Observers speculated that this series of events was a calculated effort to shield Arsho from accountability.
Another SFI leader, Nikhil Thomas, last year secured admission to the M Com program at MSM College, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha district, despite not having passed his BCom. Notably, Nikhil had attended BCom classes at MSM College from 2017 to 2018. In a rather audacious move, he forged a BCom certificate from Kalinga University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, claiming he completed his degree there between 2018 and 2021. During his time at MSM College, he was elected as the University Union Councilor as an SFI candidate in 2019.
The situation took a turn for the absurd when it was revealed that Nikhil had never been a student at Kalinga University, a fact confirmed by Sandeep Gandhi, the Registrar of Kalinga University, and later echoed by the Vice Chancellor. Kerala University Vice Chancellor Dr. Mohan Kunnummel expressed surprise at how the college authorities had failed to verify the documents when Nikhil applied for M Com admission. Adding to the farce, the lecturers who had taught him during his BCom studies processed his admission but bizarrely did not recognise him.
In another incident, SFI leader K. Vidya was caught in a scandal involving forged credentials. She fabricated a teaching experience certificate from Maharaja College, where she was only a student, and used it to secure positions at two different colleges. Her deception was exposed during an interview for a third college.
Vidya, who was elected as a college union representative at Maharaja College and later as the Student Union General Secretary at Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kaladi, had fabricated her experience certificate for periods when she was still a student at Maharaja College. Remarkably, she even participated in a degree examination valuation camp at Kannur University while using the forged certificate. She subsequently joined Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kaladi, as a PhD student.
Given Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s oversight of the Home Ministry, there is a belief among observers that the involved individuals might receive significant support. Last year’s controversies involving Arsho, Nikhil Thomas, and Divya sparked widespread trolling on social media, with the prevailing sentiment summed up in a mocking phrase: “Join SFI and pass the exams easily.”
