India would have become really a great country if we were not burdened with the mountains of corruption which are crushing the very spirit of the nation. Corruption is everywhere, from top to bottom, from centre to states, and from government to individuals. People have become so accustomed to its presence that they think they cannot move even a step without adopting or submitting to corrupt practices. Unfortunately, it has become a national weakness and way of life with us.
The educational institutions have also become hotbeds of corrupt practices. You can get admissions, pass examinations and procure certificates illegally if you have money. Corruption has seeped even into higher educational institutions. Last year the top brass of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which controls about 1600 engineering colleges in India, came under scanner and witnessed dismissals and a thorough cleanup drive. Then came up the case of deemed universities, the Central Government contemplating steps to derecognise 44 deemed universities, which might have brought doom to thousands of students, who were taken for a ride by unscrupulous peddlers of spurious educational institutions.
Now we are face to face with the rot in Medical Council of India (MCI), which controls 450 odd medical colleges in our country. The case of Ketan Desai, the arrested MCI president, is a classical one regarding corruption in highest centres of learning. He is at present in CBI custody on the charges of demanding a bribe of Rs. 8 crore for granting recognition to a medical college, out of which Rs. 2 crore was being delivered to him when he was apprehended.
It has been reported up to now that cash and jewellery worth Rs. 1800 crore has been recovered from his possession. On the basis of documents and his sustained interrogation, it is being estimated that transactions of further 2500 crore may be unearthed. It has come to notice that he had a team of 20 handpicked inspectors for recommending recognition or otherwise of medical colleges. Some of these inspectors acted as agents also who decided the quantum of amount for the grant of recognition. Sometime they acted as collectors of amounts also. CBI is engaged in minutely scrutinising the files related to grant of recognition to medical colleges. Ketan Desai has been reported to be in possession of a number of palatial houses and benami properties in Ahmedabad and several other cities besides investment in building projects, etc.
He started his career as a teacher in a medical college in Ahmedabad in 1983 and soon became its youngest head of the department of urology. In 1990s he managed to become the president of Gujarat chapter of MCI and finally president of the Medical Council of India. After that surprisingly he was everywhere, in every reputed medical association like Gujarat Medical Council, Indian Medical Association, Dental Council of India, World Medical Association, etc. holding several prestigious positions and becoming president or the decision maker.
More surprisingly, in spite of charges of bungling in medical college admissions and other mall practices and strictures passed by Delhi High Court in December 2001 no action was taken against him. Regarding him the court had gone to the extent of making the remark that an unscrupulous and corrupt person should not be allowed to function as president of MCI.
Is it not strange that all these mall practices have been taking place under the very nose of Ministry of Education and several vigilance commissions? Yet no action was taken against this gross corruption at high and prestigious places. Either he had developed great clout or was hand in gloves with high-ups. Let now the government act firmly and remove all cancerous lumps from our educational bodies.