University to keep hawk-eyed vigil on foreign students

ATS chief Rakesh Maria said they have instructed universities in the state to follow stricter document verification rules. “We were conducting a census of foreign students coming to Maharashtra for further studies. We came across various cases where people come on tourist visas and enrol themselves for a course. Many others with a student visa do not attend colleges regularly. There were some who had no fixed residential address,making it difficult for us to keep track.”

The July 15 circular instructs university departments and affiliated colleges to register a police complaint and report to the office of deputy commissioner of Foreign Regional Registration Officer if any application or document of foreign students is found suspicious.

“We were asked to stay alert and be strict during the verification of documents of foreign students and keep the local police in loop about the process,” said a senior official from the Eligibility and Migration certificate unit of MU. Even University of Pune (UoP) has issued a similar circular to its departments and affiliated colleges.

While MU has about 211 foreign students enrolled for the 2012-13 academic year,UoP has approximately 7,000 students. The universities have asked all affiliated colleges to collect details of foreign students including their visa validity,permanent and temporary residential proof,attendance in the class and examination records.

“Students from the Middle East and African nations tend to come to India for IT,BMS,BMM,finance and insurance among other courses. They believe that a degree in these courses will help them in their careers,” said Mridul Nile,director of Students’ Welfare,MU.

As enrolments and admissions are still underway,the university will wait for colleges to furnish the relevant documents,which will then be forwarded to the local police as well as the ATS,he added.

According to a senior Mumbai University official,the rising incidence of violence in parts of the Middle East countries prompted them to keep a check on students coming from these nations.