Dr. Anand Rai is a medical
practitioner based in Indore. He couldn’t keep himself isolated from the news
of forged admissions and large scale corruption in MP state agency conducted
pre medical test (Madhya Pradesh PMT). The state agency under question was
Madhya Pradesh VYAvsayik PAriksha Mandal (popularly referred to by its acronym
VYAPAM). He filed an FIR in Indore Court and based on the hearings one of the
kingpins of the scam Jagdish Sagar was arrested by MP Police. Jagdish Sagar
later threatened Anand Rai in the same court premise. There were several such
stated or implicit threats issued to Dr. Rai from people who were either
already arrested or were being investigated by the Police. Dr. Anand Rai asked
for the Police protection citing a threat to his life under witness protection
law. Initially he was refused any such protection. Later, once the issue
started showing its true proportions, he was granted a Police security, albeit
he had to pay for this protection from his own pocket.
This is the story of a man
who was key to exposing one of the most intriguing scams in recent memory. The
way law keepers and concerned authorities reacted to the threat to his life
raises a number of questions. Did they not know the deep rooted stench that may
have been present in the case, possibly involving people from highest corridors
of power, or did they know this all too well and decided that discouraging the
act of such whistle blowing was a prudent way to safeguard those involved?
Nevertheless, the scam has
manifested itself in its truer form ever since. This is a very curious case in
the sense that it did not surface through the bites of overnight sensational
revelations. Earliest reports that VYAPAM was missing a decent bone or two in
its functioning started appearing in 2004. From 2009, these reports started
gaining a new lease of momentum when the sheer number of people involved
ensured that the cozy club of beneficiaries could not be trusted to safeguard
the shady details of scam. There was a vortex of breakdown of information –
sometimes from middlemen, professionals who had allegedly joined government
services with questionable credentials, students, and even parents. A few
mysterious deaths of those who had links to VYAPAM soon followed. But we
waited. We waited because the deaths were not significant in number and hence
threshold of pan India attention was still not around.
 |
| source (focusnews.com) |
But that scenario has
changed now, some media reports put the number of people associated with VYAPAM
scam who have died after investigation were initiated to as high as 48. MP
administration itself admits that there have been around 28 deaths. We can
reasonably put the actual number somewhere in between. Of these deaths, at
least 12 have been reported to have occurred under mysterious circumstances. For
example the case of Dr. D. K. Sakalley, who was the dean of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
Medical College - he first took a medical leave from his college and then later
allegedly immolated himself in his own backyard. There are several other examples
where nature of deaths can’t be dismissed as natural without raising an eyebrow.
These deaths have given fuel to the public
outcry and media outrage to the scam. There are multipronged demands from
opposition parties both from within and outside the state to hand over the
investigation to CBI and let it be monitored by Supreme Court. State government
says that the investigation is currently monitored by High Court and is driven
by a High Court constituted SIT and STF (Special Task Force) – and that handing
over this case to Supreme court will not only undermine its own state agencies
but will also amount to contempt of the High Court.
But beyond this almost familiar chorus of an
Indian scam, there are some uncomfortable questions nobody is willing to own.
Dr. Anand Rai’s expose was made early in 2013 and the matter was being actively
investigated. VYAPAM was at the center of this brewing storm. There was little
doubt that some of its own people, entrusted with the critical task of feeding
state government with administrative cadres are conniving to fill up their
coffers. But even in the face of such distrust, all the non IAS based exams
were folded under the preview of VYAPAM by MP government in the same year. This
was a decision rooted in contradictions. Government could have waited for a few
years to let VYAPAM clear its name from the scandal and then could have
proceeded with transferring even more powers to the commission. The same year
witnessed something even more unique – Madhya Pradesh became the first and only
state to remove physical fitness marks from police cadre test. This category of
test was relegated to ‘qualifying’ criteria and it didn’t matter how well you
performed in the test itself. Effectively all the marks were now being given
during written tests and interviews. Voices were raised against this move and
many failed to understand the rationale behind such a decision.
 |
| source (thehindu.com) |
Some state medical colleges did a commendable
jobs of reporting any suspect admission to state authority, with a copy each
sent to Chief Minister himself between 2011 and 2013. They called out the
students’ name and roll numbers in their reports to state authorities. Despite
this, however, the Chief Minister said in the assembly that he was not aware of
a single student securing admission through unfair means under VYAPAM.
Opposition and some whistleblowers have accused the ruling administration of
being party to a larger conspiracy – the attempt to inject its cadres in the
key administrative and bureaucratic positions. These positions, once filled,
continue to be served by the person for around thirty years unlike political
incumbency which goes under ballot hammer every five years.
The arrest of Jagdish Sagar, based on the PIL
of Dr. Anand Rai, brought major information related to the scam to public
preview. Jagdish Sagar had once sold his wife’s Mangalsutra to complete his medical education. Later in his career,
this little known man from Gwalior amassed such an empire of illicit
connections and wealth that left MP Police baffled and scrambling for answers.
During a particular raid at his residence, millions of Rupees of cash and
records of at least thirty properties at various places were recovered. During
interrogation he quoted below ongoing rates for the admissions under the VYAPAM
scam:
·
Conductor in transport department – 15-20
lacs
·
Food inspector – 20-25 lacs
·
Sub inspector – 15-22 lacs
The modus operandi of scam
was simple and varied – and speaks of the confidence that the involved people
had while altering established norms of admissions. Some students had their
exam entrance cards tweaked and photos changed to an impersonator. The
impersonator would often charge a hefty amount for appearing in the exam on
behalf of students and ensuing that the students cleared the entrance tests. These
photos were later restored to originals after exams. In other cases a person
was strategically seated between two students and allowed them to copy the
responses. There were also instances where students left their answer sheets
empty which were later filled up by middleman and VYAPAM officials.
Everything was possible
provided you had the deep pockets to fund it.
Official numbers put such
questionable government employees who cleared the test by unfair means to more
than a thousand. Moreover over five hundred medical doctors have allegedly
cheated in the exams to get in to medical colleges. Over two thousand five hundred
FIRs have been filed against people across multiple districts of Madhya Pradesh
and Uttar Pradesh. Some reports suggest that at least eight state level
professional entrance exams were tampered between 2009 and 2010.
These are damning numbers,
and unsurprisingly state government and by extension even the central
government of the day find themselves in a tight spot. There are more dirty
linens expected to be washed in public. Exposes and counter exposes, media
bites and revealing testimonies are going to occupy much of the print and
television media space in coming days. People are aghast with yet another
reinforcement of their skepticism in government functioning – that everything
is rotten from top down and only high and mighty get their way in today’s
influence driven world.
But there is also a risk
that we may miss the larger picture amid all the brewing storm. Who were the
people, now conveniently termed as ‘victims’ of the scam, who bribed middlemen
and officials to secure their children a seat in government jobs? Who were the
people who crossed all the barriers of ethics, and let themselves be driven by
greed, insecurity, and deceit of a comfortable and upward mobile life? They
formed a nexus with the more than willing middlemen, giving shape to a Kraken
of a scam in which everyone seemed to be winning, but everyone eventually has
lost. In their moment of misplaced judgement, they chose to abandon all sense
of proprietary and did the exact same thing they have been accusing political
and administrative elite of doing.
This indicates to a rot that
runs deep in our conscious, we as masses are susceptible to lure of short term
gains and allow ourselves to be corrupted at the slightest of possibilities. No
wonder then, that the political and administrative leadership show us the
mirror of our intentions, albeit in a scale and manner befitting their clout.
No wonder then, that such scams have repeatedly surfaced, not only in Madhya
Pradesh but in places like Haryana and Bihar where parents have been shown to
be a consenting party to this sinister pattern.
 |
| source (indianexpress.com) |
Intriguing trend of deaths
may be giving VYAPAM an odd sense of public attention and we should therefore
brace for a lot of self-righteous comments and coverage from people sitting on
the high chairs on their judgment. But the real question is whether we have the
courage and conviction to point out where the real blame lies? Why do official
believe that they will find enough people interested in such murky dealings to
make it a multi-million Dollar scam every time? What gives them the confidence
with which the launch such shady enterprises? Do they know of our frailties and
motivations better than us? Or are we just plain hypocrite to admit to our own
shortcomings?
(Written by Manish Jha, an Alumnus of IIIT Hyderabad and currently working with Microsoft as Program Manager. He is also associated with a social initiative 'Joy of Reading')
