Kerala Students Union alleges CM's additional private secretary holds fake PhD from Assam University

The ruling Left Democratic Front Government in Kerala is facing another controversy as the Chief Minister’s Additional Private Secretary, Dr Ratheesh Kaliyadan, is accused of obtaining a fake PhD degree and plagiarizing 95 per cent of his thesis. 

Kerala Students Union president Aloshious Xavier further alleged that Kaliyadan’s thesis contained significant instances of plagiarism of the work being copied according to a Turnitin examination.

"The name of Assam University, one of the best universities in the country, is being misused to produce fake certificates and fake Ph.Ds. The Turnitin revision check showed that Ratheesh Kaliyadan‘s thesis, which he had researched under the guidance Dr B Nagaraj at Assam University during 2012-14, was a duplicate of Ratheesh KK's thesis, which had been submitted to Mysore University in the same year," stated the letter to the chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma.

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Xavier also alleged that a complaint was made to the Registrar and Vice Chancellor of Assam University, but no action was taken. Subsequently, the documents were requested from the university under the Right to Information Act but were not received.

In the letter, the students' leader urged Himanta Biswa Sarma to intervene in the matter and direct the university to withdraw his PhD thesis as it has violated all the norms prescribed by UGC.

As per local media, in response to the allegations, Ratheesh Kaliyadan defended himself, stating that the charges were baseless and aimed at humiliating him. 

He filed a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner and refrained from commenting on the merit of the allegations until the investigation concludes.