Hyderabad: City-based Mesco group of educational institutions maintained that it has been operating pharmacy, MCA and MBA colleges with separate faculty and in different premises as mandated by All India Council of Technical Education and other statutory bodies.
In a rejoinder to the report “RTI reveals huge fraud in Mesco ops and land use” published in these columns recently, Mesco said all the staff members were qualified as per norms and selected through a rigorous process.
It said the institution issues internship completion certificates to PharmD students strictly in accordance with the regulations framed by the PCI. The management also said their land and infrastructure requirements complied with AICTE, PCI, and Osmania University norms and were built after obtaining approvals from the GHMC. It denied allegations of tampering with records.
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Deccan Chronicle stands by the report.
Information obtained under the Right To Information Act from the Telangana Board of Intermediate Education and AICTE website clearly establish that several faculty members were working in more than one educational institution run by Mesco.
One faculty member, listed as a full-time faculty at Mesco, is also registered as a full-time PhD candidate at a college in Karnataka as per another RTI response obtained from that institution. Another faculty member was still mentioned in the list of faculty submitted to Osmania University even after his retirement at the time of seeking renewal of permission for the academic year 2023-2024.
The documents provided by Mesco to the AICTE with regard to the land and infrastructure referred to only MBA, MCA and College of Pharmacy. However, they kept under wraps the functioning of Government Girls High School, MESCO Junior College, Mesco Grade School (I to X), and Mesco Degree College on the same premises. The group has been operating seven institutions in three buildings located in around two acres which is equivalent to the land requirement for just three colleges.
RTI responses from Niloufer Hospital confirmed that the hospital did not issue internship certificates to Mesco students in 2019 and 2021, yet students were given internship certificates in the hospital's name.
Students also revealed to Deccan Chronicle that they were taken on a one-day industrial tour to Zaint Healthcare and Pharma Deep Remedies but were later given one-month internship certificates upon payment of `2,000.
The Government Hospital for Mental Care, Erragadda also confirmed that no internship was offered to Mesco students in the past three years, yet students were issued certificates in its name.
