Bushra Baseerat,TNN Jul 27,2013
HYDERABAD: A crackdown on medical seats sold secretly for a hefty sum and the judiciary urging the government to ensure fair play notwithstanding, seats under the NRI quota are being fast diverted for local students, sources said.
This year, the state government introduced reservation of 15% seats for NRI children who are keen to study in Andhra Pradesh from the 1200-odd medical seats that are on offer under the management quota.
But sadly, brokers in the city are now openly offering NRI seats after regular management quota seats sold like hot cakes for Rs 45 lakh-Rs 1.2 crore by end of June.
"Seats are fast filling up and if you want a medical seat, it has to be from the NRI quota,?" TS Rao, allegedly a broker, who is trying to woo students through advertisements in regional newspapers, told a TOI correspondent on Friday.
When this correspondent told Rao that she is ready to pay money for a medical seat under NRI quota and a Hyderabad college was preffered, Rao said: "No seats in Hyderabad colleges are available, but for Rs 5.5 lakh as fee for the course and Rs 40 lakh donation, the NRI quota seat is yours outside the city."
As per rules, only biological parents or legal guardians who are NRIs can sponsor a candidate under the NRI quota.
When the broker heard that this correspondent, who was feigning as a desperate aspirant, was willing to dish out any sum for a medical seat, Rao said he could arrange sponsorship.
"It won't be a problem, once you have the money ready we will get you a NRI sponsor on paper as well,"? he added, before he hung up.
Sources in the education department said some college managements easily find sponsors residing abroad for such candidates and collect hefty capitation fee through the brokers.
"These sponsors are shown as the candidate's uncle or aunt or a guardian,"? a senior official in the department said on conditions of anonymity.
"The racket of selling seats has been going on in Hyderabad for a while. But this year, they did not spare the NRI quota also it seems."?
Officials said despite stipulations in a recently-issued GO announcing NRI quota asonly children/wards of NRIs? are allotted these seats, several college managements have managed to subvert the system by admitting local candidates under the NRI quota.
Some experts said introduction of NRI quota seemed to be a tacit understanding between the state government that did not want to jack up the fee and the medical college managements who were demanding a steep hike.
"Managements were demanding a substantial increase in the fee structure which the government was not willing to do. Keeping elections in mind, the NRI quota was created so that colleges could make some money,"? said Dr A Y Chary, former director of Medical Education.
The AP Private Medical and Dental Colleges Managements Association (APMDCMA) said if the government had introduced a uniform fee structure for all the students, the corrupt practice could have been stopped.
"But the government has not touched the fee structure this year. While old colleges wanted to fix the fee for each candidate as Rs 6-7 lakh, new colleges had given a proposal for Rs 14-15 lakh per student,"? said Dr G Bhaskar Rao, treasurer of APMDCMA.
Courtesy source: TOI Hyderabad
HYDERABAD: A crackdown on medical seats sold secretly for a hefty sum and the judiciary urging the government to ensure fair play notwithstanding, seats under the NRI quota are being fast diverted for local students, sources said.
This year, the state government introduced reservation of 15% seats for NRI children who are keen to study in Andhra Pradesh from the 1200-odd medical seats that are on offer under the management quota.
But sadly, brokers in the city are now openly offering NRI seats after regular management quota seats sold like hot cakes for Rs 45 lakh-Rs 1.2 crore by end of June.
"Seats are fast filling up and if you want a medical seat, it has to be from the NRI quota,?" TS Rao, allegedly a broker, who is trying to woo students through advertisements in regional newspapers, told a TOI correspondent on Friday.
When this correspondent told Rao that she is ready to pay money for a medical seat under NRI quota and a Hyderabad college was preffered, Rao said: "No seats in Hyderabad colleges are available, but for Rs 5.5 lakh as fee for the course and Rs 40 lakh donation, the NRI quota seat is yours outside the city."
As per rules, only biological parents or legal guardians who are NRIs can sponsor a candidate under the NRI quota.
When the broker heard that this correspondent, who was feigning as a desperate aspirant, was willing to dish out any sum for a medical seat, Rao said he could arrange sponsorship.
"It won't be a problem, once you have the money ready we will get you a NRI sponsor on paper as well,"? he added, before he hung up.
Sources in the education department said some college managements easily find sponsors residing abroad for such candidates and collect hefty capitation fee through the brokers.
"These sponsors are shown as the candidate's uncle or aunt or a guardian,"? a senior official in the department said on conditions of anonymity.
"The racket of selling seats has been going on in Hyderabad for a while. But this year, they did not spare the NRI quota also it seems."?
Officials said despite stipulations in a recently-issued GO announcing NRI quota asonly children/wards of NRIs? are allotted these seats, several college managements have managed to subvert the system by admitting local candidates under the NRI quota.
Some experts said introduction of NRI quota seemed to be a tacit understanding between the state government that did not want to jack up the fee and the medical college managements who were demanding a steep hike.
"Managements were demanding a substantial increase in the fee structure which the government was not willing to do. Keeping elections in mind, the NRI quota was created so that colleges could make some money,"? said Dr A Y Chary, former director of Medical Education.
The AP Private Medical and Dental Colleges Managements Association (APMDCMA) said if the government had introduced a uniform fee structure for all the students, the corrupt practice could have been stopped.
"But the government has not touched the fee structure this year. While old colleges wanted to fix the fee for each candidate as Rs 6-7 lakh, new colleges had given a proposal for Rs 14-15 lakh per student,"? said Dr G Bhaskar Rao, treasurer of APMDCMA.
Courtesy source: TOI Hyderabad
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