CHENNAI: As the quandary over verification of the authenticity of the educational certificates persists, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has clarified that the higher education institutions must verify the certificates free of cost whenever any ministry or department requests to do so.

As per the notification from UGC, verification of educational qualification is a prerequisite for the confirmation of the appointed officers in the government service. “It is necessary to ensure the genuineness of the candidates and hence it should be the obligation of each educational institution including private/deemed universities to do the verification free of cost,” the notification stated.

Further, it pointed out that there had been instances where educational institutions demanded fees for verification of educational certificates of newly appointed candidates under the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). Hence, it is to be noted that verification of certificates must be done free of cost, the UGC stressed.