The Congress on Wednesday questioned the Union government for changing the eligibility norms and lowering the cut-off for postgraduate (PG) admissions under the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
The party slammed the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra and alleged that the deaths in the government hospital in Nanded were due to lack of basic medicines and sharply criticised the Lok Sabha member from the Shinde faction, Hemant Patil, who forced the medical superintendent to wash and clean hospital toilets.
Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar alleged that the cut-off in the NEET-PG exam was brought to zero to facilitate the admission of the daughter of a very “powerful person”. He, however, refused to name the person, stating it is already in the public domain.
Dr. Kumar said the move to lower merit would not only result in sub-standard medical services, but would also allow the private medical colleges to sell seats and make thousands of crores of money.
Giving an example from Karnataka, he said a PG seat in Radiology cost ₹11 crore, up from ₹3 crore last year.
‘Bonanza for colleges’
“This is like a bonanza for the private colleges,” Dr. Kumar said and alleged that norms had been changed just before the issue of fresh electoral bonds, so that some of these private medical colleges could help the ruling party.
The Congress spokesperson also accused the Maharashtra government of gross and criminal negligence that led to the death of so many people, including several kids in the government hospital in Nanded.
“The government had not placed a purchase order for four months as they had changed the supplier and didn’t get commission,” Dr. Kumar, who is a doctor by training, alleged.
“You can’t provide medicine and then the MP makes the medical superintendent wash toilets. All doctors should take note,” he added.
