SubscriberWrites: Management and NRI quotas bring down the quality of education

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The other day, I was reading a news item which appeared in the Times of India regarding allotment of medical seats to successful candidates in NEET. It was a rude shock to me to note that students who have secured ranks as dismal as 662903 were allotted seats under Management quota in certain medical colleges. Similarly, under NRI quota ranks secured up to 554308 and under minority quota ranks up to 191841 were allotted seats.

This is a mockery of an All India Level entrance test for selection of future generations of doctors to serve our country and humanity at large. Perhaps nowhere in the world merit is compromised so much for the sake of accommodating the rich and the wealthy and appeasing the minority.

It is a well-known truth that medical seats bought by the sheer money power, under management quota, NRI quota or minority quota can never produce good doctors. The real beneficiaries are those private medical colleges owned by the political heavy weights like MLAs, MPs and ministers who sell the management quota seats for an astronomical sum   and make huge profits in the bargain. These institutes also serve as smoke screens for laundering their unaccounted money.

These medical colleges have also become dens for corruption and malpractices for any entrance exams. Siddhartha Medical college for instance, owned by Mr. G. Parameshwara former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and Devraj Urs Medical college owned by former Congress MP and Union Textile minister Late R.L.Jalappa were under the scanner for being involved in a massive medical admission scam. This is only the tip of an iceberg. There would be thousands of colleges across the country involved in such corrupt practices.

It is told that in Tamilnadu at least 75 per cent of the private higher education institutes are controlled by former and current politicians. Dr MGR University is owned by New Justice Party President A C Shanmugam. AIADMK MP Thambidurai runs St Peter’s University. A C Shanmugam and S. Jagatrakshagan own Balaji medical/dental college, Bharat university and ACS Medical college. MK Leader E V Velu owns colleges at Thiruvannamalai., G. Vishwanathan owns VIT at Vellore was ex. MP and MLA from DMK and AIADMK.

This is only a sample case of a single state. Imagine the involvement of politicians in the entire country comprising of 28 states and 8 Union Territories.

The nation is paying a very heavy price for encouraging such a malpractice of selling the seats to the rich and the mighty under the guise of management/NRI quota and decimate the standards of professional education in our country.

The writing is on the wall for all of us to realize that the day is not far off when the future generations pay a heavy toll for destroying the education standards by pushing merit to the back seat.

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