Sting suggests you can buy clearances for medical college

MUMBAI: The Medical Council of India's elaborate system of inspections and assessments of new and existing medical colleges can apparently be subverted with just Rs10 lakh, less than the cost of a 600 square foot apartment in Mumbai's distant suburbs.

This disturbing revelation was made by a Zee News team of Vatsal Shrivastava, Pramod Sharma, and Nikhil Dube, which worked its way through a chain of brokers and agents to negotiate a deal in which it would have to pay Rs20 lakh for two medical colleges.

The sting operation, which was telecast on Friday night, exposed some MCI officials, including Deputy Secretary Dr KK Arora. Though the Zee team did not take the process to its logical conclusion and actually obtain a certificate of permission, its investigation raises doubts about the functioning of the country's highest medical regulatory body.

According to the Indian Medical Council (Amended) Act, 1993, no medical college in the country can be started without the MCI's permission. Even existing medical colleges have to go through a fresh MCI inspection if they want to increase the number of seats.

The first payment of Rs30,000 was made to a 'broker' named Ashish for an introduction to Dr Arora, who then demanded and got an additional amount of Rs50,000. In later meetings, Dr Arora claimed to have visited a minister (believed to be the health minister) frequently and developed a close rapport with him.

The meetings mostly took place in a variety of seedy locations, some residential flats, and one run-down restaurant where Dr Arora was seen (through a hidden camera) sitting at a table with the Zee News reporters.

In one of these discussions, Dr Arora agreed to accept an amount of Rs20 lakh for the necessary permissions for two medical colleges, even though his initial demand was much higher.

Dr Arora also fixed a meeting with deputy secretary, Dr AS Nayyar. Another day, the camera captured him taking confidential files out of the MCI office.

When DNA tried to contact Dr Arora on telephone just before the telecast on Friday evening, his mobile was switched off. At his house, a woman claiming to be his wife answered the phone and said he was not home. She also declined to confirm his mobile number.

This exposé is the latest of a series of body blows the MCI has suffered in the past three or four years. After a Delhi high court order forced the dissolution of its executive committee, control of the MCI was vested in an administrator.

When the administrator resigned after some time, the central government appointed a four-member committee, which included Dr Rangabhashyam from Tamil Nadu and Dr SK Bhansali, a very senior surgeon from Mumbai. But that committee failed to exercise adequate control on the MCI, particularly after Dr Bhansali quit.