Against the backdrop of mounting allegations that the private medical colleges were selling the seats to the students for a price of `50 lakh to `1 crore, Income Tax Department officials raided the offices of several private colleges and residences of their owners recovering huge amounts of cash.
Under the Government rules, the private colleges have to fill half of their seats on the basis of ranks secured in Government organised entrance examinations, they were free to allot the other half on their discretion.
Taking advantage of this they have been “selling” these seats to the highest bidders and this year the demand for the medical seat from the affluent and rich class was so high that some of them paid `1 crore for a seat. One seat reportedly went for `1.2 crore.
It is estimated that close to 1,200 medical seats were sold in the price range of `50 lakh to more than `1 crore.
IT officials carried out the raids in Hyderabad, Visakhapatanam, Guntur, Kurnool, Karimnagar and Rajamundry. They recovered the money collected from the students in the name of donation or capitation fee.
The colleges targeted include GSl Medical College, Rajahmundry, NRI Institute of Medical Sciences, Visakhapatanam, Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Chalmeda Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, Kamineni medical college Hyderabad. In Hyderabad, I-T officials recovered `10 crore from the house of the chairman of a private medical college of Karimnagar.
On the complaints of some of the meritorious students, who were refused the application forms by the management the Andhra Pradesh High Court intervened in the matter and issued the orders to the Government to ensure that merits were followed in admission in to medical and dental colleges.