At the Ugadi function organised by the Telangana government this year, astrologer Santosh Kumar Sastry predicted tough times for the health and education ministries. He hinted at the possibility of corruption in the departments, leaving ministers Laxma Reddy and Kadiyam Srihari looking visibly worried.
Within four months of the prediction, Sastry’s words have come true in the case of the health ministry. If the eight patients left blinded at Sarojini Devi Hospital was a tragic lapse, the case of 21 patients who died allegedly because of power failure at Telangana’s biggest government hospital, Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad, got a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) notice for the ministry.
The case of the EAMCET medical entrance exam has however, put both the education and health ministries under the scanner. The CID has confirmed that the paper for the July 9 exam was leaked to more than 100 students, who accessed the paper and were even prepared for the correct answers three days before the exam, by paying Rs 25 to 30 lakh per student. What is worrying is the brazenness with which the entire operation was carried out, with agents getting in touch with the students and taking them out of Hyderabad to prepare for the exam.
The question that arises is how can papers be leaked without an insider’s help. Wouldn’t someone in the JNTU that is responsible for conducting the EAMCET exam know? At this point in time, the printing press in Delhi is being blamed but when crores of rupees are involved, there are usually more crooks with their hands in the till.
The main person detained so far Rajagopal Reddy is said to be a past master in leaking exam papers in different states. Just look at what happened in Karnataka where the class 11 Chemistry paper was leaked, not once but twice. The investigation led the sleuths to the private assistants to key ministers in Siddaramaiah cabinet. Will the Telangana CID take the probe to its logical conclusion and arrest the real kingpin of the racket? Or should the CBI be entrusted with the probe, as the opposition Congress is demanding?
The government has decided to conduct a re-test, which has left all those who secured ranks in the July 9 EAMCET exam very angry and anguished. After all, it is not easy to go through the stress of studying 15 hours every day. The Telangana government, in a bid to absolve itself points to 80 other instances in other states, where papers have been leaked.
But that is really not the issue. The manner in which the scamsters sent SMSes to students, luring them with the temptation of getting the paper, targeting rich parents who are willing to shell out Rs 50 lakh to 1 crore for a seat in a private medical college under management quota, points to a system that is completely compromised. KCR’s effort should be to cleanse the medical education system, where at present only money seems to talk.
Unscrupulous parents who do no think twice before shelling out such huge sums to let their children engage in cheating, are equally to blame. The firm law of the land should come down heavily on them and send both the students and their parents behind bars. The ministers too need to be ticked off for adopting a chalta hai attitude towards their work.
KCR needs to make an example of this scam to show that Telangana has zero tolerance towards racketeering of this kind. After all, he dumped his deputy CM T Rajaiah, within seven months of coming to power, after allegations of corruption and mishandling of the swine flu outbreak in Telangana.
