PG Medical Seat Blocking Scam: Medicos Demand Immediate Arrest of Private Medical College Managements

Hyderabad: Amid the ongoing investigations by the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged blocking and selling of postgraduate medical seats by some private medical colleges in Telangana, the medicos from several educational institutes have demanded the immediate arrest of the management personnel of Mallareddy, Chalmeda, and MNR private medical colleges.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle in this regard, a student leader said, "Attaching properties is not enough. The management must face criminal charges, and all fees collected for B-category and NRI seats should be thoroughly investigated."

Referring to the reports of malpractices in nine other private medical colleges, the student leader further added that there must be a thorough investigation into the matter.

Also Read: PG Medical Seat blocking scam: ED attaches deposits of Telangana medical colleges

"Accountability must not be shifted to minor employees or unrelated individuals. It is the management that should face direct scrutiny," another student told Deccan Chronicle.

Allegedly, the management of these private medical colleges had been involved in blocking the PG medical seats and selling them at exorbitant rates. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently attached the properties of these colleges after the allegations of money laundering and fee irregularities.

ED had attached assets worth more than Rs 5 crore of some private medical colleges in Telangana as part of a money laundering investigation into the allegations of illegal seat blocking.

A provisional order was issued by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach Rs 3.33 crore worth bank deposits of Chalmeda Ananda Rao Institute of Medical Sciences and Rs 2.01 crore deposits of MNR Medical College, the central agency said in a statement. The total value of attachment is Rs 5.34 crore.

Previously, ED had seized "unaccounted" Rs 1.47 crore cash from Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences and had also frozen bank deposits of Rs 2.89 crore. So far, the total value of the seized, frozen, and attached assets in this case stands at Rs 9.71 crore.

The money laundering case stems from a state police FIR filed at the Matwada police station in Warangal district. This case was filed on the complaint of the Registrar of the state-run Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS), alleging that candidature of certain students with high NEET PG ranks were being used to block seats for PG Medical admissions under the management quota.

Earlier, ED had conducted raids on 12 medical colleges in Telangana while investigating the allegations of seat-blocking fraud and irregularities in the financial transactions. Allegedly, some of the medical colleges, affiliated with Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS), sold the seats for higher prices by blocking them in a dubious manner last year.

The probe found that some private medical colleges, in "active collusion" with consultants and middlemen, were engaged in "seat blocking" using the certificates and documents of high-ranking students. The blocked seats would be retained until the mop-up round (last phase of counselling) and later the students were shown as exited and the penalty imposed by the University for exit at the last stage was paid, the ED claimed.

While probing the allegations of illegal sale of postgraduate medical seats, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier issued notices to former Minister Malla Reddy. Recently, the ED also questioned an administrative officer at Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, Surender Reddy, and recorded his statement as part of an ongoing investigation.

Also Read: PG Medical Seat Scam: ED Issues Notice to Former Minister Malla Reddy