Crackdown on fake embassy certs in NRI quota med admissions

Crackdown on fake embassy certs in NRI quota med admissions

 PushpaNarayan@timesofindia.com 04.12.2024

Chennai : Touts have been actively working to forge embassy and consulate certificates for undergraduate and postgraduate students applying under the NRI quota, Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian said here on Monday. The health department has filed a complaint with Chennai city police commissioner A Arun seeking an investigation and action against the candidates who submitted fraudulent certificates. Up to 15% of the seats in self-financing medical colleges and private medical universities are set aside for the NRI quota. These seats are reserved for students with NRI/ OCI/PIO status. To apply under this category, students must provide documents that show their parents or relatives (one of the eight categories, such as sibling, grandparent, uncle or aunt) are living abroad. 

A week ago, the medical selection committee discovered that eight MBBS aspirants had forged embassy certificates. Among these, four candidates were allotted seats in self-financing colleges. Additionally, 47 doctors submitted fake embassy certificates with their applications for various postgraduate courses under the NRI quota. “The candidacies of all these doctors were cancelled. Legal action will be initiated against them,” he said. At least half a dozen embassies/consulates of countries, including those of the US, Dubai, Singapore, Australia and Kuwait, replied to confirm the “ingenuity” of the certificates submitted by these candidates. “Producing a fake certificate is a punishable offence. An investigation is under way by the police to find out who prepared and issued the certificate,” he said.

Officials in the selection committee confirmed that they received fake certificates from doctors in 2023. “At least 20 doctors were made ineligible in 2023. We did not allow them to take part in counselling but did not file a police complaint,” said a senior official. Parents and counsellors said touts and agencies were calling candidates offering fake certifications for “a fee” up to ₹1 lakh. “My brother refused to encourage touts. But they told us  how many candidates have been successfully allotted seats in self-financing medical colleges and deemed universities. Everything happens over phone calls,” said R Murali, whose nephew is awaiting a postgraduate seat.

Student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam said the state could have stopped the practice if they had initiated action against students earlier. Legal experts suggest filing cases with the medical council for doctors who forged the certificates. “It is an ethical violation, and doctors can be debarred from practice,” said former TN State Medical Council president Dr K Senthil. 

HC stay on NRI quota forgery case stalls MBBS seat cancellation

Chennai : One of the four MBBS candidates, whose admission was cancelled for forging an NRI certificate from the embassies/consulate, got a stay from the Madras High Court, said health minister Ma Subramanian. While admission to three seats in two self-financing colleges was done during the stray round, the state is working to get the stay vacated, he said. An official in the selection committee said if the seat is vacated, they have to seek permission from the National Medical Commission and the courts to admit a candidate to this vacant seat, as the deadline for admission to the undergraduate medical council is over