Bureaucrats, Private medical colleges responsible for the plight of students: Kiran Bedi

Puducherry: Puducherry Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi said that the bureaucrats and the private medical colleges were responsible for the present state of affairs of the second year medical students here. It may be noted that the Medical Council of India (MCI) had ordered the discharge of 770 students admitted to first year MBBS in private medical colleges and deemed universities last year on charges of violation of guidelines in admissions.

Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of a function at Lawspet, the Lt.Governor said the private Medical Colleges and Deemed universities admitted students violating the rules and guidelines of the Supreme Court. Now the MCI had investigated and initiated action asking to remove the 770 such students affecting the students and their parents.

The private medical colleges, deemed university management, and the bureaucrats should shoulder the responsibility for it, she added. Ms Bedi said a meeting of the representatives of Centac, Health department and private medical colleges regarding the admission to the private medical colleges was held at the Raj Nivas here on September 1, 2016.

At that time it was clearly stated that the admission should be based on NEET through Centac as per the direction of the Apex Court. However, the students were admitted violating the guidelines and the parents also supported this because of their ignorance. Centac Chairperson Justice Chitra Venkataraman in her report had mentioned the irregularities.

However, the management failed to rectify the faults. If at all her recommendations were accepted the present plight of the students could have been avoided, she said. The Lt Governor charged that the health department which should monitor the admission and the centac authorities were not proper in their functioning and the private medical colleges had violated the rules. Raj Nivas is yet to receive a report on the issue sought from the Chief Secretary, Ms Bedi said, adding that a CBI probe also is on in the issue.

In order to avoid such a situation this year, Rudra Gowd was appointed as Centac Coordinator and the admission process was held properly, the Lt.Governor said.