UP STF arrests owner of pvt medical college in Ayush scam

Lucknow: The UP Special Task Force (STF) has arrested the owner of a private medical college and hospital in Mirzapur in connection with the Ayush admission scam.

So far, 14 people have been arrested in the matter since November last year when the anomalies came to fore.

Dr Ritu Garg, director of Santushti Ayurvedic Medical College in Mirzapur, was arrested from her Varanasi residence for allegedly facilitating admission of non-deserving candidates by forging the NEET merit list, in connivance with former director, ayurveda, S.N. Singh, and counselling in-charge, Umakant Yadav, said an STF official.

In the Ayush scam case, anomalies were flagged by the Union ministry of Ayush in admission of undergraduate students to state’s government and private ayurvedic, Unani and homeopathy colleges.

The probe revealed that 932 students were admitted without following the natural order of merit.

The official said over 100 non-deserving candidates were given admission in the private college of Dr Garg by forging the NEET merit list and many of the students had not even appeared in this combined medical entrance test.

Earlier, the STF had already filed a charge sheet against 15 people, including Prof Dr S.N. Singh, former director (ayurveda services) and Umakant Yadav, officer-in-charge, directorate of education (ayurveda services) on February 14. He said the duo, along with 12 others, was arrested in the matter in November last year, after being suspended by the state government.

Notably, the counselling was done in 2021 to select candidates against 7,338 seats in homeopathy, ayurveda and Unani colleges. A total of 6,797 seats were allotted, including seats in government and private colleges under Ayush.

In all, 982 allotments were identified as doubtful. These 982 names included nine who never even took the NEET exam, but got seats allotted in colleges.

All the 982 students of the 2021 batch were suspended by the directorate of ayurveda and debarred from taking the exam slated in June by the Ayush University in Gorakhpur.

–IANS