The Medical Council of India (MCI) has asked the state government to enquire into the complaints over the sale of MBBS seats by private medical colleges in the state under management quota during the previous academic year (2011-12). It threatened to cancel those illegal admissions, if the state government does not conduct an inquiry and initiate action against the erring colleges.
As many as 1,220 MBBS seats are available under management quota in 23 private medical colleges across the state. The managements of these colleges were alleged to have mopped up nearly Rs 610 crore last year through donations, with each seat sold for around Rs 50 lakh. This year, the revenue is all set to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark due to the phenomenal demand for MBBS seats. The MCI took a serious view of the issue following large-scale complaints from students, parents and NGOs over the sale of MBBS seats in the management quota by collecting donations ranging from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 80 lakh.
Save Merit Society, an NGO, has also filed a petition in the AP High Court last week, alleging that the managements of private medical colleges were selling seats for Rs 30 to Rs 70 lakh a seat, flouting the directions of the High Court and the guidelines of the state government and blamed the NTR University of Health Sciences, which is the supervising body, for failing to check this blatant violation of rules. The court has posted the case for hearing in June. As per existing norms, private colleges are allowed to fill 40 per cent of their seats under the management quota on their own, duly following merit and taking transparent measures.
Meanwhile, the managements which collected donations ranging from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh for an MBBS seat last year, are seeing a definite upswing and are now demanding Rs 60 lakh to Rs 80 lakh, with the huge demand for MBBS seats. Eamcet medical applicants have crossed the 95,000-mark this year, the highest-ever in the history of Eamcet. Booking of seats has already started though Eamcet is yet to be held.