Ramesh Chennithala sees Rs 1,000 crore plot

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that the BJP national leaders were involved in the Rs 1,000-crore  medical college scam and has demanded a probe by a Supreme Court judge to unravel the truth.

The central government had granted recognition to 70 medical colleges  with each college giving a bribe of Rs 13.5 crore to the middlemen in the BJP, he alleged at a press meeting here on Wednesday.

He said the  BJP national leaders and the officials of the Medical Council of India had granted recognition or  given additional seats to the 70 medical colleges.

“It is a national scam and what has now surfaced in Kerala is  the tip of the iceberg. The Congress party wants a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court  judge.  The medical colleges which paid bribes got MCI recognition and others were left out,”  he alleged.

He will take up the  issue with the AICC leadership and seek legal action. The Lodha committee’s recommendation as required by the  Supreme Court was  discarded as its tenure had ended on May 15. The final list of medical colleges was announced on May 30 and the Supreme Court appointed the subsequent committee headed by Mr V. K. Paul  on July 18, he said.

“This means that the medical colleges got the recognition when neither the Lodha committee nor the Paul committee was functioning.  Though the inspection of the medical colleges was  conducted during February, the findings were not submitted before the Lodha committee,” he added.

It may be recalled that the state BJP has been rocked by the allegation that Mr R. Shaji, chairman   of S. R. Medical College and Research Centre, Varkala, had given a bribe of Rs 5.60 crore to Mr R. S. Vinod, BJP’s co-operative cell convener who has since been expelled from the party.