It is degrading, disgraceful, inglorious,outrageous and outright shameful, to put it mildly. Yes, the degrees offered by the mighty and famous University of Madras were not found valid for jobs in the Central Government. This perhaps is the worst embarrassment that a University of its stature can imagine.

The Directorate of Distance Education of the University had issued the degrees in question. In 2006, the accreditation from the Distance Education Council was made mandatory. The University applied for provisional accreditation and got it for the year 2007-'08.

Anantha Krishnan and Suresh babu, who obtained their degrees from the DDE, got duly selected for the Department of Commerce, Government of India. However, when the Staff Selection Commission went through their Degrees issued by the University, it found them invalid, as they were not recognised! What further dishonour can be there for this University?

The DDE of the University has issued similar degrees to several students during the last twelve years. The question is, if any or a few of these are already employed with the Union Government, will they lose their jobs as their degrees are not valid?

The innocent students should not suffer for no fault of theirs. The University has played with career, nay the lives of the students and it has to take all the blame. It should feel ashamed. It is the moral responsibility of the University to find a permanent solution to this academic problem.