With an inquiry already underway into the alleged money-for-seat scam involving functionaries of two private Tamil Nadu medical colleges, one hopes that the issue shall not die down at this early stage itself.
Most inquiries into issues related to corruption in high office reach a dead end and the process of fixing fault usually takes long, with several rounds of committees and inquiry panels being constituted.
But it would be in the larger public interest to prevent the matter from being put on the back burner so easily.
From the perspective of the MCI and its chief Ketan Desai, it would be good if issues related to alleged seeking of capitation fee by medical colleges can be treated as a matter separate from those related to facilities and infrastructure in these colleges and deemed universities.
Desai’s view that even UGC comes into play while dealing with deemed universities carries weight.
While it is easy to heap the entire blame on Desai’s head for the alleged corrupt practices in some private medical colleges, one cannot ignore the fact that his role is limited to owning up responsibility for the collective inability of MCI, UGC and Health Ministry in checking the menace of capitation fee.
Apart from some introspection, Desai and his team would do good by drawing a lesson or two from the Tamil Nadu episode.
The most crucial one could be that seeking capitation fee from students could be included in the list of grounds on which a private medical college’s derecognition could be recommended by a regulatory body like the MCI.
But the crucial aspect, as in most cases related to corruption in public places, is to prove the allegations.
