Three Puducherry medical colleges manipulated records to deny admission to meritorious students

Bosco Dominique| TNN | Sep 16, 2017, 09:05 IST



PUDUCHERRY: It has now come to light that three private medical colleges in Puducherry had admitted 186 students who had not even applied for admission in those colleges in MBBS last year.

The imbroglio in MBBS admissions in deemed universities and private medical colleges could have been averted if the Puducherry government and private institutions strictly adhered to the decisions taken during the meeting convened at the Raj Nivas on September 1 last year, said lt governor Kiran Bedi.

Within a few days after the private institutions concluded MBBS admissions for the last academic year 2016-17, the chairperson of permanent admission committeeand Madras High Court former judge justice Chitra Venkataraman, in a report dated October 19 last year addressed to the chief secretary listed out serious lapses in the admission process in three private medical colleges and asked the Puducherry government to take appropriate action.

The delay on the part of the government finally resulted in the Medical Council of India ordering discharge of 770-odd MBBS students, who were admitted at private institutions, without following due rules and regulations. The MCI, in its September 7, 2017 order, directed the government and institutions to discharge all MBBS students who were not allotted seats through centralized admission committee (Centac) and send a compliance report within two weeks from the date of dispatch of the order.

Committee chairperson said the parents' associations submitted material evidence proving that the three private medical colleges admitted candidates, who had not even applied for admission in their colleges and denied admission to meritorious candidates, who officially applied for admission in their colleges. The associations pointed out that three private medical colleges offered MBBS admission to 186 students, who did not even apply for admission in their respective colleges.

The Justice said on comparing the application list with the admission list submitted by Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, it was found that out of 112 students admitted, 44 students had not even applied for admission in the college. Similarly out of the 97 students admitted at Sri Venkateswara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, 50 students had not applied at all and out of the 95 students admitted at Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, 92 students had not applied at all.

"This left the meritorious students, who had applied in the said colleges and also figured in the merit list prepared by the permanent admission committee not being included," said the justice in the report.

The colleges denied admission to meritorious students, who refused to pay exorbitant fees, declaring that they failed to appear for counselling despite their presence during the counselling session. "The parents informed that the colleges made this noting when the parents insisted on payment of fees as per the fee committee direction," the justice said.

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"Agony caused to over 770 medical students was completely avoidable had the minutes of the meeting recorded on September 1 last year held at Raj Nivas were implemented by all parties concerned. Permanent admission committee chairperson also pointed out the serious deficiencies later. None of the issues was addressed. The whole scenario would have been different had the issues were addressed effectively. Instead, the colleges had a free run as is evident from the scale of irregularities based on which the MCI has cancelled the admissions,' said Bedi.

She said people suffer when the government fails to address issues in a time-bound manner with a sense of urgency and integrity. "Regrettably in this issue, it's our children and parents who suffer," she said.