Whispers Forum

After the return of nearly 20,000 Indian medical students from Ukraine, there are calls to change the rules on such students who have studied abroad to make it easier for them to complete their education in India and become an asset for their country. The government should give a serious consideration to this. So many of our bright children go abroad to countries like China and Ukraine from where they have to be extracted. It is indeed a pity but we can’t blame these students for going abroad. There are only about 88,000 MBBS seats in India, but more than 8,00,000 candidates appear in NEET. Thus the dream of over 7 lakh students remains unfulfilled.
Sunil Thakur
DEBATE
In 1985, the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau was created. It was the brainchild of V P Singh, then FM. Idea was to have a coordinated approach to commercial crimes. Towards this end, an Economic Intelligence Council under Chairmanship of the FM himself. This Council has nominees not only from Revenue agencies, But also, Governor RBI, Directors of RAW, IB and CBI etc. The DG and Special Secretary of CEIB was to coordinate among agencies of Revenue. Unfortunately petty ego issues and writing of ACRs crippled the concept. Also CEIB started direct investigations which brought it into conflict with DRI, ED, Investigation wing of Income tax, etc. By 1992, it was a pale shadow of the purpose for which it was created. Between 1997 and 2002, the CEIB again came into prominence because of pioneering Forensic Accounting and Investigation of Corporate frauds. Post 2005 it became an analytical organisation and gradually faded into insignificance. The main work of COFEPOSA is now a very small part with smuggling and FEMA cases few and far between. Now there are too many financial intelligence organisations in Government replicating work. Even though Regional and Central Economic Councils exist, there is total reluctance to share information. With the need for ease of doing business the targets of Financial investigations have to be identified with care. Also SEBI, RBI and CBI do not have requisite acumen to investigate commercial fraud cases. Insurance and bank frauds etc can be handled better with a coordinated action. Matching of data and a dossier of Commercial criminals will prevent fraudsters from accessing the financial system repeatedly. No terrorist activity or crime can occur without financial support. Already FIU, CBDT, CBIC, CBI and ED have huge data but not collated or compiled. The revival of the Regional and Central Economic Council would be of great assistance Combat IPC or Financial crimes.
A Agnihotri

Debate (1)
It is very wise and essential move to create the proposed "Chief of Economic Investigating Wing". But how will the proposed "Chief of Economic Investigation Wing" function, as different Economic Investigation wings are governed by different Acts, like the (1)CBI-DSPE Act, PC Act, etc, which is under DoPT (2) ED&DRI-PMLA,etc which is under Ministry of Finance (3) SFIO-Companies Act, which is under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, etc Different Economic Investigating agencies report to different Secretary level officials and have different set up and the designated judicial courts are also different for their prosecution. There will be many legal impediments which needs to be addressed and cleared before creating such a post.
Mahesh Kumar
Left out reserved category persons should get benefits
Once reservation benefits have been availed by appointment to any class I cadre post, the progeny of such an incumbent should be debarred from availing any reservation benefits. This will increase the scope of other left out reserved category persons.
Ajay Gupta
Nothing much done for reserved communities
Mr Bimal's suggestion is welcoming one but we need to realise that the objective of reservation has been achieved because nothing much was done for these reserved communities in the first 70 yrs of Independent India. It's only after Modi Govt coming to power in 2014 that something worthwhile has been done. So we need to give them some more time.
Kishori

Actually reservations in the field of medical and technical education should end in order to maintain standards and also for the benefit of some general candidates, who miss seats on account of a whisper and go abroad to study. Majority of the students of the reserved category who get admission in IITs do not complete their education and drop out. Further, it is to be noted that none of the patients of the reserved category want to get themselves treated by doctors who belong to the reserved category.
Bimal
‘Unaccountable’ Post Offices being upgraded !
The Minister for Communications & IT Post Offices are being upgraded to work in the digital arena. It requires a lot of effort and orientation in work culture. A simple thing is still not implemented that no TDS will be deducted from Sr. Citizens accounts if total interest is less Rs. 50,000/- in a financial year even after notification from the Income Tax department. India Post web site also shows no TDS from SCSS account if total interest is less than Rs.50,000/-. But TDS is being deducted by many post offices unless form 15H is submitted which is not required in case of Sr. Citizens. This can easily be implemented centrally by making necessary conditions in central software and no option is given to individual post offices. It appears there is lack of accountability for implementations.
Naveen

I fail to understand how reservation can affect the quality of medical education, when the top positions have been held by so called meritocrats. Such biased views are in fact intended to divert attention from the mess created in the name merit.
S S Badhawan
One doctor needed against 1000 Indians
Much has been said about medical education, facilities & infrastructure in India, in this forum. My view is that 50% of medical education, hospitals and the infrastructure be under Government umbrella, 50% under private sector with riders like fee caps, no donations or hush money for admissions, there should be a fixed cap too for charges by the private sector hospitals, any hospital violating be taken over by Government. This is necessary for a healthy competition between Government and private sector hospitals, might also lead to more medical research in India. Of course India needs many more medical colleges & hospitals, which can be managed through more allocations in the budget. If this principle is followed certainly we can achieve a minimum requirement of 1 doctor against 1000 Indians as per WHO standards in years to come. This is certainly possible provided there is a political will.
Harish Kumar

The Appellant was aggrieved by the fact that his First Appeal was also replied by the PIO (Principal, KVS Mahoba) rather than by the concerned FAA (Deputy Commissioners) which he claimed to be in violation of the provisions of RTI Act. The PIO tendered his unconditional regret for the error committed by the then PIO. The CIC expressed severe displeasure over the conduct of the then PIO in having evaded the responsibility to act in letter and spirit of RTI Act by adjudicating the First Appeal of the Appellant on its own rather than forwarding the same to the concerned FAA. The CIC severely admonished the PIO on this count and cautioned the PIO to be careful in future.
Comments
If the PIO starts replying to the First Appeal as though it is a routine correspondence, it would imply exceeding the jurisdiction mandated under the RTI Act and would make the adjudication of First Appeal infructuous per se.
Citation: Ashok Krishn v. Kendriya Vidyalaya in File No: CIC/KVSAN/A/2020/110307, Date of Decision: 06/08/2021

Central and State Governments and MCI should form a joint committee and identify big district hospitals which can have medical colleges attached to them. This will reduce our dependence on private medical colleges.
A K Anil
Only opening more medical colleges would not serve purpose
Simply opening more medical colleges would not serve the purpose. There must be quality and curb on fees also. Today there are approx 50,000 seats available in MBBS courses, which include Government as well as private seats. While fees in Government colleges range from Rs 1500/- per year (lowest in AIIMS-Delhi) to something around Rs 30,000/- per year in other colleges, whereas fees in private colleges ranges from Rs 12,00,000/- to unthinkable level of Rs 22,00,000/- per year in some of the colleges in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. DGHS coming harsh with NEET scores making it mandatory have rendered some colleges going without full capacity since last 3-4 years. It is because of the severe lack of quality with reference to the fees being charged.
V K Pandey

The Ukraine crisis revealed large numbers of Indian students go to foreign countries, including Ukraine, to study medicine. I think MBBS seats should be increased in India as the country faces shortage of doctors and these students would be able to work in their own country. According to the government data, there is one doctor for every 1457 people in India, which is lower than the WHO norm of minimum 1:1000.
Navneet Agarwal
Two Medical colleges need to be opened in every state
I fully agree with Meenakshi Sundaram. Both the Central and State Government need to take immediate steps to open more Medical Colleges. It should be time bound. At least two colleges should be opened in each state in the next two years .There will be six colleges in the next 10 years. Then only the shortage of Doctors in the Country would be met.
S Gopal
Centre & States not spending on education
I fully agree with views expressed by S Meenakshi Sundram. The Indian education sector has been destroyed through commercialization of education. The Government of India and States are not spending the required percentage of GDP on education. Poor quality of employable education & poor quality of faculty too. The Reservation policy for too long has defeated its real or very purpose. Hush money in admission into commercial private institutions. 6. Lastly the continued process of reforms in the education system has been almost negligible as it suits our uneducated political elites or kings.
Harish Kumar

It is not an international racket. No parents would like to see his child pursue his dreams in less developed countries. They have been forced to seek Medical Degrees abroad and in particular Ukraine etc as despite their outstanding performance there is no scope of them getting admission in good or reputed medical colleges in India due to so many reservation categories, less number of seats available for General category candidates etc. It is also reminded that in the state of Jharkhand, a new medical college came up only after 65 years, hence, a state which had a say in implementing schemes on education sector did nothing to materialise and were rather more interested in filling up their personal coffers. Whereas during the Coalition Era, the Southern States took full advantage and established numerous IIITs, Medical Colleges etc.
S Meenakshi Sundaram

It is not understandable why the people of India who become very excited on very small issues are silent after Russia attacked Ukraine. Even in Russia demonstrations have been organized. Russia is not a democracy and it is the country that has attacked Ukraine. But still the people there had the courage to hit the streets and protest against the killing of innocent civilians. We are not worried about our own citizens. The lives of 20,000 students are in danger. They are hiding in bunkers, metros without food and water. A country known for burning effigies on every small useless issue is strangely silent although there is anger against Russia all over the world. Today there were media reports that some Indian girls have been kidnapped by Russian soldiers and there is no information about them. What if they were our own daughters? Can’t we feel the anxiety of their parents and family members?
Ajit Sinha

Ms Anju Srivastava has a point though all cases may not be like. The Govt of India has introduced a 360 degree profile. Such information should be used as part of the profile. State Govts should also use this system of 360 degree profile. We need to clean up the system.
Nilesh Kumar
Rightly pointed out
Yes you rightly pointed out the issue of foreign going students.
Karisiddaiah
A mechanism needed to avoid exorbitantly air tickets
I beg to disagree with Anju Srivastava's views on airfares from students from Ukraine due to the recent crisis. Because there has to be a mechanism in place so that airlines can't charge exorbitantly, airlines profit margins must be fixed and defined, so that airlines can't dictate in crisis situations like this. It holds good even for much more marketable products too.
Harish Kumar