An inquiry was opened against three private medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh for allegedly producing fake permission letters from the National Medical Council (NMC) to raise the number of medical seats, an official said on Thursday, September 7. This step was taken by Dr YSR University of Health Sciences, the supervising authority for medical education in the state.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Korukonda Babji, said that three medical colleges, GSL Medical College, Rajamahendravaram; Maharajah Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), Vizianagaram; and Santhiram Medical College, Nandyala, had indulged in this fraudulent practice, reported PTI.
“We called the principals of the three colleges and asked them to give their explanations and we started the enquiry,” Babji told PTI.
What happened?
According to the VC, the medical university initially accepted the Letters of Permission (LoP), mistaking them to be genuinely issued by the NMC and allotted the enhanced medical seats, but had to annul them on receiving directions from the medical council that they were fake. Due to this, the university has to redo the process of counselling.
Highlighting the case of GSL Medical College, the VC said that the college claimed to have obtained permission to raise the number of MD radio diagnosis seats from 10 to 24.
Though the varsity is yet to take any action on the three colleges, Babji said that NMC has booked an FIR.
He said the medical university is more worried about completing the admissions process on time.
“We are worried and hurrying to do the counselling first because we have to follow NMC timelines. So, we don't have much time for legal actions and all. We are worried about the students' problems. We have to restart the counselling,” he said.
The unexpected development has disrupted the usual flow of activities in the varsity and also alerted aspiring students to be wary of these colleges, PTI added.
“In a medicos Whatsapp group where we discuss counselling and admissions and we received alerts on the fraudulent practices of GSL Medical College, we were cautioned about these bogus seats,” said a Hyderabad-based MBBS graduate waiting for post-graduate admission.
NMC's Medical Assessment & Rating Board (MARB) issued a public notice on September 5 stating that GSL Medical College had increased the number of MD-Radio Diagnosis seats from 10 to 24 based on a fake letter from the medical council, whereas, no application was received from the college in the first place.
MARB Deputy Secretary Arun Kumar Singh clarified that no communication was sent to GSL Medical College in this regard and the forged letter cannot be considered as valid permission.
