India’s worst kept secret: Payment seats
Another tehelka style operation. This time by Times Now. Something we already knew. Just documented now for posterity.
It is a fact that merit takes a back seat in India. You can buy your way into becoming a doctor or an engineer. If you have enough dough to pay for your seat, your career is guaranteed.
Dhanya Rajendran’s report says it all (Watch) :
Less than a week after the Tamil Nadu state government put in place a system to curb the collection of capitation fees by private medical colleges, a TIMES NOW-Times of India joint investigation has caught the officials of two leading medical colleges demanding money to admit students.
In one of the most reputed deemed medical universities in Tamil Nadu, Sri Ramachandra University, the price of a seat here is anything between 40 and 75 lakh rupees. But we found out that is just the money to secure a seat. The advertised tuition fees of 18 lakh rupees is over and above this.
Now this is one of India’s worst kept secrets. And this is not the only college where this murder of merit occurs. These educational business places are in all the states. And yes, the people running them are bigshots- politicians, medical administrators, filthy rich people. With the right connections. Very influential and very powerful. Not very easily pinned down.
And we are all to blame. Not just the administrators in these colleges. The students and their parents who are willing to go any extent to secure seats are equal party to this ugly practice. And yes, we do know the kind of doctors that are being produced from these markets. What would you expect from a student who has paid so much for his education? Wouldn’t his first priority be to ‘recover’ that amount from his patients? Where does ethics, professionalism and transparency go now— out of the window, of course. My head hangs in shame. But till we accept this as a normal practice in society, I expect nothing to change.
#respond10 Comments
sailendra on June 4th, 2009
It’s filthy, these malpractices are stiking. Mother India might be getting an obnoxious nauseating sensation with all this money racket. The people involved are supposed to do moral/medical service to humanity. Alas! they’re servicing their tummies and their curbing minds. This democratic country is electing polticians hoping that they might do some useful service. So, these elected politicians are unethically servicing in all ruthless routes, so that they earn multitude in their pockets and in tummies. As a result the people of India are suffering.
Dr.Anshu on June 4th, 2009
Last week I was talking to one of my postgraduates. Now this chap is somewhat casual about his studies and I was trying to dig deeper to try and motivate him to work harder. I asked him what he intended to do after his postgraduation and he said quite seriously- I think I will join the Medical Council of India! My jaw almost dropped.
But then this is the real state of affairs. Being an official in the MCI is a lucrative job. And who said you need to know anything about medical education. We have all heard hushed whispers of how MCI inspectors are rewarded with Mercedes cars and packets of money.
Agonisingly painful is the fact that all the MCI does is carry out ‘head counts’. You can be on vacation or on an important job, and the MCI inspection means you have to rush back and report to the inspectors. They match your face with your mugshot, you sign and it is over. I’ve heard of pizza delivery boys being passed off as doctors! Patient being paid to fill the wards on the day of the inspection is normal tactics. On no occasion does the committee bother to see the quality of teaching going on— remember it is a head count, not a brain count!
Till the MCI uses its power to threaten and dangle a sword over our necks, nothing will work. Documentation will be perfect, implementation zero. Why can’t there be recognition and reward for medical schools who are actually doing well? Or are there no schools of that calibre in this country? Let medical schools compete to be the best, instead of simply submitting fudged reports. It is high time the MCI takes its own image a little more seriously.
Dr. Chakri on June 5th, 2009
I congratulate ‘Times of India’. This obnoxious money racket should be curbed. All the ethics and morals in a wholistic country (India) are going down the drain. We used to admire Dr. Man Mohan Singh (our PM) for being righteous and simple. But, He should think what would happen if doctors grown from these money rackets, operate on him (which was required at AIIMS few months back). Now, it’s high time that senior politicians should act fast and stop these malpractices.
kshitija on June 6th, 2009
very infrmative articals.want to become a surgen.need your guidance for admission, kshitija.
kshitija on June 6th, 2009
thank you!
GEETHA PHILIPS on October 18th, 2009
i am cofused plse tell me the exact status of DNB
ashar on January 15th, 2010
this is good to know,at last some one, weather media,has brought this matter to light,i must say that there must be a check on how the institutions are providing education to these students,because one of my friend told me,who also passed out from the management seat,that they had to pay a handsome amount to clear the exams,for which they were allowed to carry mobile in xam hall and for clearing viva.
sanjaydewal79 on January 22nd, 2010
This is not the last straw in the MCI monitored Medical colleges in the country. In fact more and more medical colleges are coming up in private sector, because of the ‘under-the-table/illegal’ money in huge figures involved. Probably you would be surprised to know that a MD seat in Radilogy sells for almost 2 crore rupees, now if there are 5 such seats, 10 crore is possible amount collected in one subject. Other subjects of course may be cheaper yet the income earned is collossal and no business can give you that kind of money. So more and more colleges are coming up, more and more PG courses with more and more number of seats are being opened up- the only consideration is money and money and nothing else-merit? what is that? A Radiology students comes in ferrari and wants only a degree and he wishes to start some centres in the country only as a business.
sanjay dewal on February 8th, 2010
You will be surprised to know that at the time of inspection, bus loads of people are brought in the college/hospital and at times right in front of inspectors sent by MCI. Once they start disembarking the bus, depending upon the personality, age and appearance-those people are lebelled as Prof, asstt Prof, addn Prof or patients or residents. Those labelled doctors are given a white coat to wear and those who come in chappals/dhotis/payjamas are given beds to lie down as patients. Such is the state of affairs-take all the MCI appointed inspectors for truth analysis/narco analysis. You will be startled at the results. As a matter of fact there are more gujaratis or having connection with gujarati crowd of MCI than from other states of India in MCI to cater for needs and dictates of one and only one king of MCI !!!!!Like it or lump it, it will go on like this.
Sanjay dewal
bhopal
Subodh on June 4th, 2009
It is sickening to listen to the authorities and politicians showing their surprise once these malpractices are brought into attention through media. They behave as if they do not know anything about this. When every citizen in this country is aware of these practices happening, how come only those in authority positions and politicians remain unaware! It simply means that all of them are involved in this big racket.
The problem increases manifold with the trend of awarding the status of deemed university to these institutions which is dependent more on their right political connections than on their merit. Many of the deemed institutes conduct their own competitive examinations which gives sanction to their whole process of admission. However, these tests are just an eye wash and all the admissions are prefixed. Only answer to this menace is that the system be made more transparent. The Union government should conduct a pre-admission test on the patterns of Common Admission Test for admission into management schools. And, all the admissions in the public and private medical colleges/ schools should strictly be based on the score obtained in this test.