Malpractice

Santosh Medical College in Ghaziabad, affiliated to Santosh Hospital, is a private college that has been exposed by media reports as being inadquate both in terms of infrastructure and faculty. The hospital has 800 beds, 80 per cent of which are free. But most of the facilities are not used. Not surprisingly, the Delhi High Court suspended Medical Council of India president Ketan Desai in 2001 for manipulating inspection records to grant the college recognition.

There are other allegations against Santosh Medical College. In April 2005, the vigilance department investigated the allotment of land to the college. The Maharaji Education Trust had applied to the Ghaziabad Development Authority for just over 60 hectares of land in Pratap Vihar for the Santosh Medical College and Dental Hospital on April 14, 1995. This was allotted in six months. Media reports say this was possible because of the close relations between P Mahalingam, chairman, Santosh Hospital, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Kanshi Ram, the then chairman of the Haryana Urban Development Corporation, V Suresh, and some senior officials of the Union urban development ministry.

In 1994, regional television channels in Andhra Pradesh showed that the Bhaskara Medical College at Moinabad in Ranga Reddy district had arranged fake patients and got medical students to pose as doctors and nursing students as staff nurses to get the necessary clearances.

The Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Kerala, made more than Rs 8 crore last year even before the first batch had begun classes. As opposed to 50 per cent seats to be given at the college management's discretion, 75 out of a 100 seats were filled for cash. The capitation fees