Kiran Bedi seeks CBI probe into alleged medical seats scam in Puducherry

Puducherry: Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi on Monday said her office has sought a CBI probe into the alleged large-scale corruption in the admission of students to post-graduate courses by private medical colleges in the Union Territory. “Puducherry is currently reeling under a huge medical seats allotment scam. Independent and immediate investigation alone will help arrive at the truth,” she said. [caption id=“attachment_3715311” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kiran Bedi. Reuters[/caption] “Apparently it is a case of colossal collective failure of political, administrative and management. Parents and deserving students are the victims. They need justice,” she said. In a WhatsApp message, Bedi said there were several queries from different quarters to her on the “acts of omission and commission” in the admission of students by private medical colleges in Puducherry. She said her office had formally responded to the queries and requested the CBI to “immediately take up the whole case of alleged fraud, cheating and breach of trust and also possible large-scale corruption which may have happened in the admission of students to PG courses by private medical colleges in Puducherry and also in the conduct of the Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC).” She said the CBI had been requested “to investigate the acts of omission and commission urgently and to step in at the earliest to save evidence from being either diluted or destroyed.” Bedi, who has been championing the cause of students to get seats under government quota in the private medical colleges in the PG stream of studies, also said, “Some vital papers so far have already been forwarded to the CBI and more will follow.” She said the Madras High Court in an interim order recently had already directed the private medical colleges to admit students in the seats belonging to government quota. “But it appears that they have already sold those seats away even before the closure of counselling. Hence, colleges are in serious contempt,” the former IPS officer said. Bedi, who assumed office in May last year, has been involved in tussles with the Congress government on a host of issues. She has been asserting that being the administrator of the UT, she has the powers over administrative matters. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had on 16 June in the Assembly taken strong exception to Bedi making field visits, calling meetings of officials at the Raj Nivas, holding meetings through video conferencing and sending communications through social media. The Assembly had also passed a resolution seeking grant of full administrative powers to the elected government here after the CM led a frontal attack on Bedi’s style of functioning.