Ayush admission scam: 9 candidates enrolled without taking NEET, finds probe

These candidates produced allotment letters issued to them after counselling and were fraudulently pursuing bachelor’s courses in homeopathy, Ayurveda and Unani, say officials

LUCKNOW Nine out of 22 candidates, who were allotted seats in Ayush colleges without even taking the qualifying NEET-2021 exam, actually got enrolled while details of the remaining 13 were being looked into, revealed an inquiry by the Ayush department into the admission scam on Wednesday, a day after the state government suspended 891 students whose admission was found to be doubtful.

The department had initiated an internal inquiry and lodged an FIR on November 4 after it came to fore that many students got admission to Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy colleges in Uttar Pradesh in violation of rules. (Pic for representation)

The nine candidates produced allotment letters issued to them after counselling and were fraudulently pursuing bachelor’s courses in homeopathy, Ayurveda and Unani in Ayush colleges, said officials.

“These bogus candidates were allotted seats in colleges of Badaun, Gorakhpur, Handia, Muzaffarnagar and Lucknow,” said a senior official in the Ayush department.

The department had initiated an internal inquiry and lodged an FIR on November 4 after it came to fore that many students got admission to Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy colleges in Uttar Pradesh in violation of rules. The Ayush minister wrote to the chief minister’s office, seeking a high-level inquiry into the admission anomalies by an independent agency while the state government recommended a CBI probe into it.

Ineligible candidates were allegedly given admission to UG courses

during counselling for NEET 2021-22. They passed the qualifying exam but had poor marks against the cut-off mark. Besides, 22 students were allegedly allotted seats without even taking the NEET exam.

“There is a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. The fate of all these students under suspension and also officials under scanner will depend on the outcome of the inquiry,” said Dayashankar Mishra, Ayush minister.

The search is also on to trace the staff of the agency hired for counselling work while documents of the remaining students would also be screened by the probe team.