Chandigarh, December 8
The Government of India has instituted an inquiry into the PGI admission scam that was unearthed, following investigations by The Tribune. The inquiry committee, chaired by Dr DC Jain special Director General, health services, New Delhi has been asked to file a report within six weeks.

Answering a question raised by the BJP MP Avinash Rai Khanna in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday informed the house that the members of the committee are: Dr Rani Kumar, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS New Delhi, Dr AK Agarwal, Principal Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi and Deputy Director (Administration) PGI as members.

The scam was brought to light in a series of investigative stories carried in The Tribune in September this year. The investigations were based on taped phone call recordings with the agents who had helped two doctors to get admission to the coveted MD/MS courses being offered by the PGI. The CBI had registered a case following the Tribune reports and arrested the two doctors.

Taking up the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Khanna asked the Union Minister if the government was aware of the news item that had appeared in the Tribune (September 28, 2010) titled “Seats on sale in PGI”. The MP further asked the minister to inform the house the steps the government had taken after the publication of the news. He also asked whether similar allegations have also been reported on other institutes like the PGI and what corrective steps the government had taken against the erring officers.

In his reply, the minister said an inquiry committee, was set up on October 26, 2010 and is expected to file a reply in mid- December. He added that the CBI had registered a case against Gaurav Shaleen, a person operating from Mumbai along with unknown others who indulged in corrupt and illegal practices for getting admission to some of the prestigious medical institutions of the country, including PGI.

The CBI is yet to arrest Gaurav who has been on the run since the case was registered. He had applied for a pre-arrest bail in a local court here but his bail plea was rejected. Sources add that the CBI has got vital leads into tracing the impersonators who sit in entrance sexams in place of the candidates.