New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Ramesh Pokhriyal is caught in the eye of the storm over two different dates of birth mentioned in his degree certificate, in his passport and his CV. The accusations were levelled against him just a day after he took charge as the HRD minister.

Explaining about the same, the minister has said that the change is owing to the Hindu horoscope.

It is said that the minister’s degree from Open International University (OIU) has a different date of birth while a different date of birth has been mentioned in his passport and CV. As per his CV, Pokhriyal was born on August 15, 1959, while his passport says July 15, 1959, a discrepancy of 30 days.

Pokhriyal is quoted by News18 as saying that the difference of 30 days between his two birth dates owes to the Hindi horoscope and that he has never taken advantage of it.

Pokhriyal’s educational qualification also has been under the scanner over the last few years. In 2009, as Uttarakhand CM, he was accused of having fake certificates issued from an unregistered university. He had been conferred a DLitt by the Open International University (OIU) of Colombo for his “contributions” to literature in the 90s. He received another DLitt degree from OIU for his “contributions” to the field of science. The university is not recognized by the government and falls outside the jurisdiction of the University Grants Commission (UGC).