Direct admissions through Touts to face immediate cancellation by MCI

New Delhi: The Medical Council of India(MCI), has given a stern warning to all Medical and BDS NEET qualifiers that those found to be back gate entries into medical colleges or discovered to have got admissions through touts by paying hefty commissions will finally be have their admissions nullified at the hands of the MCI .

The check will happen automatically as the Council is handed over the final list of selected candidates in medical colleges all over the country, as it is meant to oversee all India admissions to medical colleges.

The Council alert comes in the wake of the rising uproar in the country that NEET qualifiers are being flooded with messages from 'touts' promising them direct admissions for a sum anywhere between Rs. 10 lakh and Rs.1.25 crore.

Any NEET scorer entertaining ideas about skipping NEET counselling, mandatory for joining medical and dental programs, now runs the risk of having his or her admission cancelled.

According to an MCI official such candidates would be caught by the MCI as it gets lists from all state governments of all students who have appeared for counselling and selected their colleges.

“Students who get direct admission by paying money to agents or the colleges can be caught easily and we will cancel their admission,” he further added.

While NEET rules hold counselling mandatory for admissions, complaints have been received from many NEET qualifiers and their parents of having received hoards of text messages from agents or touts assuring them of admissions without counselling.

When an HT correspondent, in the guise of a parent of a NEET qualifier met a few touts, most offered admissions to well known institutes of Uttar Pradesh.

“If you pay Rs 10 lakh, we can get your son admitted to any of the private medical colleges in UP,” one ‘agent’ with an office in a posh east Delhi colony said.

The commission amount is meant to be over and above the fee amount. The agent went a step further, assuring the student and his parent that the admission would be valid, and the ward would be introduced to the Chairman of the private college, who would take the amount in the name of a ‘donation’.

“My commission is only Rs 2 lakh per admission. If you can bring more candidates, I can pay you half from my share, ie, Rs 1 lakh as your commission,” he offered.

A Central Delhi agent on the other hand went ahead and ‘advertised’ a seat in a top medical college in Karnataka for Rs 1.25 crore.

However, none of these agents seemed to have any control on government college admission, though a few claimed to be in a position to influence government counselling as well.

“If the candidate hasn’t applied for online counselling, he will have to pay Rs 5 lakh extra for getting his name included through the back door,” another ‘agent’ said.

The academia cautioned students from falling into agent traps and risking disqualification at the hands of the MCI.

“Candidates have to apply for online counselling and then get all documents verified for admissions. After that they have to give names of preferred colleges and if they qualify for admissions in those colleges on the basis of their NEET marks they will be admitted,” the MCI official said.

“This is the only legal way to get admission,” he added.

Last year, 519 students faced admission cancellation in 37 medical colleges across the country, as they had gained direct entry without going through the Counselling process. These students are now batteling it in battle to legalize their admissions.

It is believed that some medical colleges are misleading candidates by asking them to take direct admission through management quotas.

“There is no management quota after NEET was implemented in 2016 and all admissions are through counselling,” an MCI official informed.

Of the 12 lakh aspirants who sat for the NEET 2017 Test, 6 lakh have qualified.

The Medical Council of India website has declared 59,570 seats for the MBBS course;while 26,000 seats are available for BDS aspirants as per the Dental Council of India, that regulates the dental program.