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NEW DELHI: Medical Council of India
president Dr Ketan Desai and two others were
arrested late on Thursday for allegedly accepting
a bribe of Rs two crore to grant recognition to a
medical college in Punjab.
Desai was arrested late last night after the CBI
conducted searches at his office here following
information that he along with his associate
Jitender Pal Singh was allegedly demanding a
bribe of Rs two crore to recognise a college in
Punjab, CBI spokesperson Harsh Bahal saidtoday.
Bahal said that Desai along with Singh and
another associate Dr Kanwaljit Singh of Gyan
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Sagar Medical College in Punjab have been
arrested by CBI on corruption charges.
NEW DELHI: The arrest of MCI chief Ketan
Desai on Friday and subsequent investigations
has firmly established that the body which
regulates medical education in the country is, as
a court described it once, a den of corruption.
Desai was caught accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore
from the vice-president of Patiala-based Gyan
Sagar medical college and hospital.
The vice-president of the college, Surinder
Singh, has been arrested. Another official of the
college, Kanwaljit Singh, and a Delhi-basedmiddleman, Jitendra Singh, too were arrested.
Kanwaljit was delivering the cash to Desai when
CBI officials nabbed them.
According to CBI, Desai had asked for Rs 2
crore for granting permission to start admission
of students for the academic year 2010-2011 in
different courses even though the college had
failed to comply with objections pointed out
earlier by an inspection committee.
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The Hazare movement and media have
focussed on corruption of the 'spectacular'
variety. But what has escaped the discussion
is the institutionalised corruption in-built inthe conduct and practice of professions like
the medical profession in India [ Images ],
says Dr Sanjay Nagral.
Throughout the tumultous days of Anna's fast I
received messages from doctor colleagues and
medical associations to participate in protestactions. Some like the Indian Medical
Association and the Association of Medical
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Consultants actually joined various public
actions.
I cannot remember these associations supportingany 'non medical' movement that doesn't directly
concern the practice of medicine in the past.
Their activities are generally confined to
seminars, relief work, social gatherings or
campaigns to defend doctors. They largely
function as guilds of doctors. So in a sense theyseemed to have broken new ground in openly
supporting what is an avowedly anti-
establishment movement.
One could regard this as yet another example of
the 'awakening' of the educated middle class,
that Anna's movement seems to have achieved.After all, who can deny that doctors are good
representative symbols of this class?
But such new enthusiasm by medical
associations also brings up an important
contradictory dimension about the participation
of professionals in the anti-corruption movementin India. The medical profession in this country
exemplifies this paradox in many ways. There
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are certain dominant forms of corruption that are
currently in the public domain.
The Hazare movement and the media havefocussed on the mega scams or the corruption of
the 'spectacular' variety. Then there is the 'petty'
corruption of the day to day type that all of us
engage with either as bribe givers or whine
about as social critics.
But what has escaped the discussion it deservesis the institutionalised and internalised form of
corruption that is in-built in the conduct and
practice of professions in India. It is so
impregnated and long standing that one has
ceased to even recognise it as corruption. And
this is the variety where unknowingly orknowingly the main protagonist is not the State
or politicians, but educated professionals
themselves.
The practice of medicine in India has several
telling examples of this form.
Take the commercialisation of education in the
form of private medical colleges where seats are
sold through underhand dealings. What is
pertinent to this discourse is the level of
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collusion with this market by institutions,
medical teachers and medical practitioners.
Private medical college empires have grownbecause they have managed to hire and retain
medical teachers, set up arrangements with
hospitals to provide 'clinical material' in the
form of patients and get recognition for
postgraduate courses from inspection teams
consisting largely of doctors.Many doctors' children study in these colleges.
Thus not only is there no internal resistance to
both the idea and practice of the sale of medical
seats, but it has been co-opted as an acceptable
form of medical education. A more revealing
example is something that plays out in dailymedical practice.
It would be no exaggeration to say that a
significant proportion of medical practice in
India, especially in the dominant private sector
is conducted through the payment of
'commissions' or more colloquially called 'cuts'.These are cash transactions, not revealed in
official documents and arbitrary in amount. This
all pervasive practice operates for patient
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referral from family doctor to specialist, doctor
to hospital, pathology and radiology clinics.
What qualifies this activity as 'corrupt' is the factthat it is non transparent and secretive especially
for the patient. Besides, of course, it increases
the cost of health care and affects quality. Again,
this practice has been internalised and
legitimised by its sheer scale and acceptance in
the profession. Hardly any medical associationever --including the ones who have joined
Hazare -- have ever tried to build internal
resistance or opposition to such a patently
corrupt practice.
Our profession has, of course, also had its
share of 'spectacular' corruption. In 2010, DrKetan Desai, president of the Medical Council
of India, ex-president of the Indian Medical
Association and president-elect of the World
Medical Association, was arrested by the
Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of
corruption and sacked by the centralgovernment as president of the MCI. He is
now cooling his heels in Tihar jail.
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Desai amassed crores of rupees (one estimate
pegs the amount of money recovered from the
raid on his home at Rs 1,800 crores or Rs 18
billion), essentially from the lucrative business
of recognition of medical colleges.
Incidentally, Desai had been repeatedly indicted
by various courts and had been temporarily
sacked in 2002, but staged a return. Thus such
an individual not just survived, but actuallythrived for an entire decade at the highest levels
in the Indian medical establishment, both as the
president of the Medical Council as well as the
Indian Medical Association, due to a certain
permissiveness of his constituency and peers.
This is also a reflection of a tolerance andambivalence medical professionals have
developed towards internal corruption in their
own representative bodies.
It is easier and safer for a professional to
symbolically identify with the Hazare
movement, but much more challenging anddaring to question internal corruption at one's
workplace. Over the last two decades we have
tried to raise issues related to the ethics of
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practice of medicine in India through a
publication, but have met with a considerable
resistance from doctors and their organisations
to speak out openly and identify with the cause.
Whatever way the Hazare movement finally
goes, if it serves to stir up some self
introspection amongst educated, elite
professionals it could be an important long-term
gain. When the dust and noise of the spectacularsettles it may be worth remembering to turn our
gaze inwards.
Dr Sanjay Nagral is a Mumbai-based surgeon
New Delhi: One and a half years after the don
of the Medical Council of India, Ketan Desai
was arrested for taking a bribe of Rs 2 crore,
the Central Bureau of Investigation is finally
ready with a chargesheet. CNN-IBN has
accessed the confidential papers that
document how the deal was struck, rules
bent, quality of medical education
compromised and how money changed hands.
The CBI decoded the modus operandi of
former MCI chief Ketan Desai and his tout
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JP Singh. Sources say that Desai used code
words like 'Badal' for Punjab colleges and
'Mamata' for West Bengal colleges.
The Key characters in the conspiracy were:
Dr Ketan Desai, President of the Medical
Council of India
Dr Sukhvinder Singh, Vice Chairman of Gian
Sagar Charitable Trust
JP Singh, Tout
According to the CBI, Desai entered into a
conspiracy with JP Singh and Sukhwinder Singh
to grant permission to Gian Sagar Medical
College in Patiala for admission of students for2010-2011 for different courses for which the
college did not have the required facilities.
Conversation tapped by the CBI:
Here's the transcript of a phone conversation
tapped by the CBI on the day the executivecommittee of the MCI was to examine Gyan
Sagar Medical College.
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Ketan Desai: I will be late todaythere is a
meeting of the Exective Committee.
JP Singh: yes but you've already decided tohelp those poor people.
Ketan Desai: yes but there are a lot of
problems, its only cement and steel.
JP Singh: okay.
Ketan Desai: It will be very difficult for me.
Ten days later JP Singh struck a deal with the
Vice Chairman of Gyan Sagar Medical College,
Sukhvinder Singh.
JP Singh: Its just a mandatoryrequirement(second inspection). We have to get
it done.
Sukhwinder Singh: okay.
JP Singh: you have to show an updated version
of the report. The person who did not havecholey bature will be there again.
Sukhwinder Singh: the same inspector?
JP Singh: Yes, He will get the work done.
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During a re-inspection on March 22, 2010, the
MCI again said that there was no auditorium.
The college authorities gave an undertaking to
complete the construction within one week.
The Executive Committee of the MCI on Arpil
5, 2010, suddenly approved the college and
recommended the government that permission
be granted for admitting fourth year MBBS
students.
Desai then called JP Singh using code language
to say that a deal had been agreed upon.
Ketan Desai: 'Badal's' relatives were here today.
JP Singh: There was a blockage, he needed an
angioplasty.
Ketan Desai: Yes, I put in a stent, now it is
okay. He will not need surgery.
Based on these tapped conversations the CBI
raided JP Singh's residence in Vasant Kunj onthe April 23 and recovered a sum of Rs 2 crore,
sent by Sukhwinder Singh, meant to be
delivered to Desai. In the course of its
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investigation, the CBI got the voice samples of
Desai and others verified.
After Desai's arrest, CNN-IBN conducted aseries of investigations that exposed how Desai
ran the Medical Council of India like a cartel,
extorting money from private colleges to grant
them permission.
While the government is struggling to clean the
mess left behind by him - Desai today is out on
bail. But the evidence against him is too strong
to ignore now.
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BIO DATA
Dr. Ketan Desai is an apostle of genuine
imagination, innovation and creativity, which
has resulted in his enviable ascendency to the
key positions. Dr. Ketan Desai achievementsand attainments have been through his
dedication and hard- work, that together makes
him look legendary.
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This is fortified by virtue of the fact that
incidentally Dr. Ketan Desai happens to bethe youngest ever President of the Gujarat
Medical Council, Medical Council of India
(MCI), Indian Medical Association (IMA), to
name a few. Dr Ketan Desai has a unique
distinction of being the youngest teacher
member of the Senate, Academic & Executive
Council of the Gujarat University and also the
youngest ever Dean of Faculty of Medicine as
well.
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In a major development, the Supreme Court issued a notice
against Ketan Desai and Gujarat University (GU) on
Monday in response to a complaint filed by US-based
group People for Better Treatment (PBT). PBT moved theSC in February after its PIL challenging election of former
president of Medical Council of India (MCI) Ketan Desai
to the GU senate was rejected by the Gujarat high court last
December.
The SC division bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K
Ganguly admitted PBT's appeal on Monday challenging the
high court's dismissal of the PIL and issued notices to DrKetan Desai and GU asking why Dr Desai's election
"unopposed" to the GU senate should not be cancelled.
The court notice mentions that while still president of the
MCI, Dr Desai was arrested on April 23, 2010 by the CBI
for taking bribes from a private medical college and
thought he is at present free on bail he is still facing a
criminal trial. The notice also asks for an explanation thatas the MCI cancelled Dr Desai's medical registration on
October 9, 2010, how he could be elected to the GU Senate
to a post which is reserved for registered medical doctors.
Ironically, the Gujarat HC had dismissed PBT's PIL on the
ground that since the PBT president is a non-resident
Indian (NRI), he may not have any "public interest" for
people living in India. It hadeven imposed a penalty of
Rs10,000 against PBT for bringing a seemingly frivolous
PIL against Dr Desai. "The SC notice sends a strong signal
to all corrupt medicos and supporters of Dr Desai," said Dr
Kunal Saha, president of PBT.
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PBT's advocate in New Delhi T V George explained that
according to the SC notice both the parties, Desai and GU,
would have to justify their actions. "After that, SC would
probe the matter of appointment of Desai in GU senatefurther," said George.
Dr Saha said Desai is facing criminal trial for corruption
and disproportionate assets. "At present, he is out on bail
and is trying to be back at the helm of Indian healthcare.
Both PBT and MCI had warned GU against taking Desai
into the senate, but GU authorities went ahead with the
appointment, he said.