Almost a month after admissions to undergraduate (UG) medical and dental seats concluded, parents are surprised to receive emails and messages from unknown sources, claiming to help them get a seat in a government medical college.
The “agents” have also sought cheques and demand drafts between ₹6 lakh- ₹10 lakh from parents, addressed to the Medical Council of India (MCI), to confirm admissions in government medical and dental colleges in the state. Despite repeated attempts, calls and emails to the MCI went unanswered.
The parent of a medical aspirant said, “My daughter’s admission has been confirmed in a private medical institute in Maharashtra. However, a few days ago, I received an email from an unknown source, claiming to be a part of the UG seats allocation process. He said my daughter can get a seat in a government institute for a fixed fee. I didn’t know that such a process existed.” She added that the email stated that the admission approval will first come through the Ministry of Labour and Employment, after which the final approval will be given from the government medical college assigned. “The email is looks so genuine that an aspirant, who is really desperate for a seat in a government institute, might fall for it,” she added.
The email further claims to make seats available for a select few students against the seats left vacant under the economically weaker sections (EWS) quota in some government medical colleges. In one case, a student had been asked to pay around ₹9 lakh for the seat, which includes ₹75,000 for the dean of an institute in Madhya Pradesh, ₹1.22 lakh as a one-time registration fees and ₹6.75 lakh in favour of the Medical Council Committee, payable in demand draft.
{{/usCountry}}The email further claims to make seats available for a select few students against the seats left vacant under the economically weaker sections (EWS) quota in some government medical colleges. In one case, a student had been asked to pay around ₹9 lakh for the seat, which includes ₹75,000 for the dean of an institute in Madhya Pradesh, ₹1.22 lakh as a one-time registration fees and ₹6.75 lakh in favour of the Medical Council Committee, payable in demand draft.
{{/usCountry}}“Such messages are very common, especially after the admissions season ends. Earlier, fraudsters would target parents with fake messages. But now they are using the names of authoritative organisations such as the Medical Council of India to target desperate aspirants,” said Ruiee Kapoor, an activist.
Parents have decided to approach the state medical education department as well as the MCI, informing them about such circulating messages, hoping that authorities take action on this.
One of the emails was sent by an alleged senior counseling support of the Directorate General Labour Welfare. When HT tried calling on the number given on the email, it went unanswered