Dr. Desai and Cartel of Drs Made Medical Education a Joke

[Guest guest]

Desai cartel made medical education a joke

Seemi Pasha , CNN-IBN

New Delhi: It is not just the arrested Medical Council of India President Ketan

Desai but an entire cartel of doctors and administrators who were involved in

the scam of granting recognition to medical colleges, many of which do not have

the required infrastructure.

The arrest of Desai has brought in the open what everyone in the medical

fraternity always suspected, but rarely showed the courage to speak out.

For 14 years the medical regulator diluted the quality of medical education by

cultivating corruption at the top. After initial questioning of Desai, the CBI

says the scam is around Rs 500 crore.

It is not just Desai who is responsible for engineering the scam.

MCI Vice President Dr PC Kesavankutty Nair is referred to as " Ketan Desai's

Bharat " as he held fort when Desai was ousted by the Delhi High Court on

corruption charges in 2001. He kept the seat warm for Desai to return after he

was acquitted by the court in 2008.

MCI Secretary Dr ARN Setalvad is said to have passed files to Desai who was

ousted from the MCI in 2001. The CBI which investigated his role in 2007 had

said that he also appointed cronies, including a relative of a CBI investigator

in MCI.

MCI Finance Committee Chairman Dr Ved Prakash Mishra is an old timer who has

been around for 23 years. He reportedly handled all financial transactions on

behalf of Desai. The CBI is looking into all these charges very closely.

MCI Executive Committee member Dr Devinder Kumar Sharma reportedly granted

certificates to doctors without recognised MBBS degree while another Executive

Committee member, Dr Usha Sharma, is said to have

granted recognition to medical colleges without mandatory facilities.

This was one favourite route of corruption for Desai and company.

" Firstly we have to enquire in the current MCI and hold everyone responsible for

the current mess accountable and taken to the task.

Secondly we have to dissolve the MCI. It is not an autonomous body, it has been

a body which has been captured by invested invest and we need to move the

medical education to the higher regulatory authority of India, " says 1 Manish

Sabharwal, who is a part of the knowledge commission that asked for the

disbanding of MCI and other education regulators.

The Delhi High court observed in 2001: " We cannot allow a unscrupulous and

corrupt person to function as the president of the Medical Council of India.

Unfortunately institutions meant to improve professional standards are passing

into the hands of unscrupulous persons. "

Many eminent doctors have also written to the Prime Minister to cleanse the MCI

once and for all, and not allow a repeat of 2009 when Desai managed to make a

comeback to what is now being referred to as the Most Corrupt Institute.

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