Vyapam scam: All you need to know about the whistleblower Anand Rai

Dr Anand Rai is today known as one of the whistleblowers of the Vyapam scam. An ophthalmologist and now medical officer, Rai went to MGM Medical College in Indore. When he was studying at MGM Medical College in Indore (2003-2007) he was miffed with the irregularities that was present in the system which lead to children of bureaucrats and politicians doing well despite not attending classes or doing practicals and taking viva. 

He decided to investigate the matter further. As a junior doctor and a leading one among his peers, he went to Bhopal to talk with the Madhya Pradesh government regarding the matter. Over there he met with Deepak Yadav, a fellow junior doctor from Gwalior.

While he was in a meeting with Deepak, the latter left to go to his hotel citing  urgent work. But when he did not come even after some time had elapsed, Rai became suspicious and went to the hotel room. Rai was astounded to overhear a conversation where  a medical entrance exam was being discussed and some forms were being handled. "I saw Deepak, along with some others, pasting passport-size photographs on the forms,” Rai said to an English daily. This led him to suspect some mischief - the Vyapam scam - which has now led to deaths of 45 people till now.

Rai was soon to meet someone who would inadvertently lead him to the scam.

In 2008, he met a batchmate Jadgish Sagar at the wedding of a common friend. “Jagdish, however, left the wedding venue soon. The excuse yet again, was ‘some important work.’ When he did not return for a long time, I opened a suitcase he had left behind to look for numbers I could call on to locate him,” Anand had said in an interview to an English daily.

The suitcase contained a great deal of admission forms and photographs. 

Rai tried to figure out how these people were involved in scandal. He had finished his PG and joined as a faculty in the college. It would soon turn Sagar and Yadav would be key accused in the scam. 

In 2009, he filed a complaint with MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or MP Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam). The board asked a committeeto keep an eye on candidates and managed to zero in on eight suspects. It discovered that there were 280 proxy candidates while scanning records.

Rai is now helping the police connect the links in the scam as many of his former classmates are main accused. He uses RTI to check the progress of the case and to make sure the investigation is being carried properly.

Rai claims to the news daily that he gets threat calls often and his family lives under stress. According to himn there should be a level playing field. "These irregularities gobble up the opportunity of a genuine candidate,” he reportedly said.