With college admission season about to commence later this month, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has issued a warning to parents and students against falling prey to touts who assure them of admission to medical courses or offer redress to their admission woes.
The MCI notice issued by its Deputy Secretary (Administration) A. K. Harit states: “It is for the information of the public that certain mischievous elements are contacting them for redress of their complaints/problems in connection with the admission of students into medical courses etc. on behalf of the vigilance cell of the MCI.”
“An e-mail ID from which such mails are being sent is ‘[email protected]’. Sunil Batra, GF-7, Antarksh Bhavan, Connaught Place, is reportedly sending these e-mails. The person is not associated with the Council in any manner. The public has been advised not to have any dealings with this person or any other person using the name of MCI unauthorisedly. MCI will not be responsible for any such dealing,” the notice said.
A senior MCI official added that as a follow-up to the notice the Council has also written to the Delhi Police informing them about the person and requesting them to inform the Council in case any action is taken.
Back-door entry
Former Delhi Medical Association president Anil Bansal said: “What Sunil Batra is doing is clearly just another method of scouting for potential clients/ students seeking ‘assured’ admission to undergraduate medical courses by buying seats. Providing back-door entry to private medical colleges is a multi-crore business, and private colleges in the country have agents in the Capital for booking admissions. Several of them work hand-in-glove with coaching institutes that operate in the city. They start looking for ‘potential’ clients (students) from Class XI onwards and, with the competition being so tough and good colleges being in short supply, parents are easily lured into ‘buying’ medical seats. Most private colleges do brisk business when it comes to ‘booking’ seats for students seeking admissions. In some cases the booking is done even two years in advance.”
Mr. Bansal went on to add: “We do get complaints about parents who have been cheated after being assured of a medical seat. But since these transactions are not legal there is often almost no safety net that is offered to the clients/parents. What is horrifying about the entire business is the fact that it is flourishing and more innocent people fall prey to it every year.”