Students Auction Medical Seats and Makes Lakhs

Write three entrance examinations, get three P-G medical seats. Choose one, auction the other two for lakhs of rupees.


Students who are already studying in Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata, Baroda medical colleges are holding on to two medical seats in Karnataka against rules. With MD Radiology going for Rs 1 crore and MD Orthopaedic selling for Rs 80 lakh, it’s big money for students.

 
Sample this: A student who has chosen MD (general medicine) at a medical college in Baroda under the all-India quota in the 2007-08 admissions, has not surrendered his medical seat in Gulbarga. Ditto with a student who is already studying at Dibrugarh, Assam, but is clinging to a seat in Bijapur.

 
With May 9 set as the last date for second-round of counselling for all-India quota to be completed, as per the Directorate General of Health services (Government of India schedule), students chose seats nearer home.

 
Though they should have surrendered the Karnataka seats to enable these seats to come into the seat matrix for the state quota second round, students have not done so. The second and final round of P-G counselling for the state quota is scheduled to commence on Monday.

 
Simply put, these students are unwilling to give up the seats they chose during the first round of post-graduate counselling in colleges here in April.

 
Reason: With medical seats in Karnataka going for from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore — students make a fortune. And with little time (May 31 last day for completing admission process) to offer it, the seats are given away under ‘management or discretionary’ quota.

 
On its part, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) sent a circular on April 11 to all medical/dental colleges: “Students are likely to get selected under the all India quota, PGET (RGUHS) and Comed-K. Such students may play fraud by surrendering the seats in the last moment for wrongful gain.’’


Caution to RGUHS

Last month, the director attached to Directorate of Health Services (DHS), Government of India, wrote a letter to Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Delhi, for necessary action in respect of malpractices in P-G medical seats in private medical colleges in Karnataka, and sought details from RGUHS. The DHS cautioned RGUHS to guard against such fraudulent practices.


(TOI:21/05/2007)