The State High Court has detected irregularities on two counts in the case of the establishment of Dental Institute of Trikuta Charitable Trust. First irregularity, according to the recent High Court judgment, is committed by the Union Government and the second irregularity is by the Dental Institute itself. The Trust had approached the Union Government for permission to establish the Dental Institute and begin with the session 2006-07. The Union Government made inordinate delay in deciding whether to give it permission or not. When just two months were left for the deadline which is 30th of September for any session, the Union Government rushed through and gave permission. The court verdict has raised the issue that sufficient time ought to have been given for the establishment of institute and the logic was to ask the institute to begin with the next year’s session which meant admission for the academic session of 2007-08. Why did the concerned Ministry of the Union Government first sit on the case and then rush through it, remains a mystery? Here violation of the Regulations of Dental Council of India is involved.
The fault that the High Court has found with the Institute is related to the mode and manner of making admissions. The Institute is allowed the capacity of one hundred students. 50 seats out of intake capacity of the institute were to be filled up from amongst the candidates recommended by the Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE) and rest of the seats-50 were to be filled up by the institute by conducting a “competitive entrance examination”. What actually the institute has done is that 88 out of 100 students have been admitted on its own without conducting any common entrance examination which violated the Dental Council of India Regulations. Even in giving admission to 88 candidates, no standard norms and regulations have been followed. Out of 88 candidates, 32 had less than 60 per cent marks in 10+2 and 19 candidates even less than 55 per cent marks. This is not only violation of established norms for admission to a dental institute but also is unfair and unjust to those candidates who had higher scores but were not given admission.
This is a case of bungling and corruption to say the least. The court decision may not have brought direct charges of corruption against the Trust Management nevertheless there are clear indications that good deal of money has been transacted while selling the seats. Justice Massodi has made a very cogent point by saying that “it needs no emphasis that once it is left to the total discretion of management of an institute, aided or un-aided, minority or non-minority, to make admissions at its level, there is every chance that greed may overtake the objectivity and the management of professional institute may resort to profiteering at the cost of the merit. The candidates passing out from such professional institute would not be well equipped to do justice to their profession and serve public at large”.
Hindsight shows that year after year, there have been complaints against irregularities committed in giving admission to students in medical sciences and its affiliated branches. There have been innumerable court cases. The fact is that in most cases, judgment has gone in favour of petitioners who alleged discrimination for one reason or the other. Unfair admission in medical sciences is a serious challenge to the society. Denying opportunity to meritorious students and against them taking students with lesser merit ultimately affects the public health. We need efficient doctors, dentists, nurses and Para-medical staff. The cream of or intellectual class should find admission in this particular branch of education. Nobody should be allowed to play with the health of the citizens.
The institute has also been directed to deposit an amount of Rs 14 lakh out of the fee (Rs. 50,000) collected from each of the 28 candidates admitted over and above the management quota with Jammu and Kashmir Legal Services Authority. This is in line with justice and is a good gesture on the part of the court. The court has also ordered that the career of the students admitted in 2006 should not be put to any harm. But the question remains what about those candidates who had higher merit but were not given admission in 2006-07 session of the Dental Institute under reference. They will have taken to other professions, of course, when they were denied admission. But that does not mean that their case of justice should go unnoticed. They were intentionally discriminated against and as such fairness demands that they should be compensated. The judgement is a clear warning to other private institutes that violation of established regulations and circumventing the norms cannot go unnoticed for all the time
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