March 31, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

BADIN, March 30: The unabated practice of issuing fake domiciles and permanent residence certificates (PRCs), a perquisite for seeking government jobs and admission to state-run universities and colleges in the country, has deprived the deserving students of the backward district of their right to higher education.

The affected students said that the practice had been going on for years and the so-called agents who were hands in gloves with government officials had turned it into a lucrative business.

The students who failed to get admission to the government medical and engineering universities and colleges due to varying reasons would get fake domiciles and PRCs of the district in order to get job or admission on special quota for the backward area.

Badin’s EDO of revenue recently cancelled about eight PRCs issued to some students who had obtained the certificates on the basis of false representations and concealing material facts. Some had also produced fake certificates to get the PRCs.

A senior advocate, Abdul Hafeez Memon, who filed petitions on behalf of a group of students, informed that the practice had deprived a sufficient number of students of their right to admission and jeopardised their future.

It was painful to see that eight local students of Badin had been deprived of admission to medical institutions due to those who managed to get fake PRCs, he said.

The copies of the order cancelling PRCs of eight students obtained by Dawn included seven female and one male student belonging to Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Tando Mohammad Khan and umber of other districts.

They included Ms Kanwal Khaskheli, Rabil Nawaz, Ms Almas, Ms Maryam Sana, Ms Sobia Noureen, Ms Sadaf, Ms Sumaya Aziz and Ms Aqsa Qureshi.

The cancellation orders had been despatched to authorities concerned including vice-chancellor of LUMHS.

A human rights activist, Maqsood Ahmed Chandio, said that it was not the first time that students belonging to other districts had got admission using fake documents.

The fake PRCs had been detected but no responsible official from the department concerned of Sindh government had ever bothered to investigate the matter thoroughly and take action people involved in the crime, he said.

Organised gangs who had turned the practice into a lucrative business often went unpunished, he said.

He blamed political interference and favouritism for the issuance of bogus certificates and demanded inquiry.