PG medical scam: CBI books 2 IAS men, others

New Delhi: The CBI on Wednesday booked two IAS officers — Puducherry’s health secretary B.R.Babu and Central Admission Committee (CENTAC) chairman Narendra Kumar and 11 government officials and private medical college administrators in connection with the alleged irregularities in admission to postgraduate medical courses.

Besides Babu and Kumar, other government officials booked by the CBI are Puducherry health and family welfare director Raman, CENTAC convenor V.Govindraj, joint convenor K.Pajaniradja and coordinator Jonathan Daniel, sources said. Officials of the central probe agency also booked three self-financing medical colleges and four deemed medical universities in connection with the case.

According to a recent CBI FIR, “The accused officers cheated bona fide students who were issued provisional admission certificate during counselling by the Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC)” but were later denied the seats they were allocated. The agency alleged that the public servants abused their official position, entered into criminal conspiracy with private hospital officials and cheated bona fide students in the admission process in 2017. The accused conspired and cheated the bona fide students, by giving admission to ineligible candidates after collecting “exorbitant admission fee”, it alleged.

It is further alleged that the public servants failed to implement proper admission procedures and helped the management of medical colleges by abusing their official position. Medical college officials named in the FIR include Rajagoplan (Managing Director, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute), Ganesan (Managing Director, Aarupadaiveedu Medical College and Hospital), and Ponniyin Selvan (Registrar, Vinayaka Missions Medical College). Anbu (Managing Director, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences), Dhanasekaran (Managing Director, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital), Anil Jacob Purti (Registrar, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences), and Ramachandran (Managing Director, Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre) have also been named as accused in the CBI FIR. According to the CBI FIR, 96 eligible students could not get admission because of the conspiracy. The FIR alleged that the colleges admitted students not sponsored by CENTAC, by taking fees ranging from Rs 40-50 lakh.