Colleges with politico links in trouble

More than half of the 17 colleges, where around 250 medical and dental students might be stranded because their admissions have been set aside, are run by trusts that have links with Congress and NCP politicians.

More than half of the 17 colleges, where around 250 medical and dental students might be stranded because their admissions have been set aside, are run by trusts that have links with Congress and NCP politicians.

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On Friday the Pravesh Niyan-tran Samiti, the committee responsible for admissions-related complaints, disapproved admissions after examining reports of three committees about the matter. The names of the colleges, the complaints received in each case and the Samiti’s recommendations were released on Monday.

For instance, both Terna Medical College and Terna Dental College in Navi Mumbai are run by Terna Public Charitable Trust, which is chaired by Padamsinh Patil, a former cabinet minister. Ano-ther former minister, Ranjeet Deshmukh, is chairman of the trust that runs NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences in Nagpur.

Admissions have been disapproved on grounds such as failure to advertise vacancies, follow reservation rules and admission schedule, and other procedural violations. “The admission process was thus not fair, transparent and merit-based”: stated the minutes of the meeting.