Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 7 Sep: Serious allegations of large-scale irregularities in the allotment of MBBS seats under the Uttarakhand NEET State Quota have been levelled by journalist Pradeep Bahuguna, son of the late environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna. Bahuguna has sought a proper inquiry into the matter and action against those found responsible. Bahuguna has alleged that seven of the nine MBBS seats reserved under the Freedom Fighter quota have been allotted to ineligible candidates and has urged the District Magistrate, Dehradun, to order a detailed probe into the certificates and claims submitted by the beneficiaries.
The allegations have also prompted a response from Medical Education Minister Subodh Uniyal. In a statement, Uniyal said that an inquiry would be conducted at the Director level and that those found guilty will not be spared. He has assured that strict action will be taken against anyone found involved in irregularities.
According to the allegations, the possibility of manipulation came to light from the list of 24 applicants who applied under the Freedom Fighter quota during the first round of NEET counselling, which was conducted by the Uttarakhand Medical Education University and uploaded on its website. Bahuguna has alleged that scrutiny of the details available in the list raises questions over the authenticity of several claims and also suggests that similar irregularities may exist in other categories of the State quota.
He has particularly questioned the timing and manner in which several applicants obtained the certificates required to claim the Freedom Fighter quota. According to the allegations, most of the applicants secured their certificates only towards the last date, on 17 and 18 August. While some certificates were reportedly obtained online, others were issued offline. Bahuguna has claimed that discrepancies became apparent when the certificate numbers of some of the online certificates were examined. He has also questioned the manner in which domicile details have been recorded, alleging that in some cases only the date of issue has been mentioned, making independent verification difficult.
One of the most striking cases cited in the allegations concerns a seat allotted at Doon Medical College. Bahuguna has alleged that the certificate number entered for a candidate named Pranjal had not even been issued, while the application for the certificate was allegedly made in the name of a person identified as Shakuntala Sajwan. Despite this, the candidate was allotted a seat under the quota. The allegation requires verification by the concerned authorities and the original records before any conclusion can be drawn.
Bahuguna has also raised questions over the educational backgrounds and domicile claims of several beneficiaries. He has alleged that most of those who secured the benefit of the quota had completed their Class X and XII education in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or other States outside Uttarakhand. While studying outside Uttarakhand by itself does not establish ineligibility, Bahuguna has sought verification of their domicile and Freedom Fighter dependant certificates to determine whether they fulfilled all the prescribed conditions for claiming the State quota.
Questions were also raised by Bahuguna over the claims of four applicants who allegedly identified themselves as descendants of the same freedom fighter, Dharma Veer Verma, son of Khazan Singh. According to the details cited by Bahuguna, three of the applicants gave their address as 21/1, Rajiv Nagar, Tarli Kandoli, Dehradun, while the fourth gave her address as Doodha Devi Mandir, Mothrowala, Dehradun. The four applicants reportedly claimed to be successors of Dharma Veer Verma while seeking seats under the Freedom Fighter quota in different government medical colleges.
In his letter addressed to District Magistrate Dehradun, Bahuguna claimed that he personally visited the addresses mentioned in the applications as part of his preliminary inquiry. He has alleged that no person by the name of Dharma Veer Verma, described as a freedom fighter, could be located at the addresses. He further claimed that there is no house bearing number 21/1 in Rajiv Nagar, Tarli Kandoli, and that enquiries among local residents did not establish that a freedom fighter by that name had lived there.
According to the findings, as claimed by Bahuguna, local enquiries led him to the family of a person named Dharma Veer Verma who had lived in the Rajiv Nagar-Tarli Kandoli area. An elderly resident reportedly took the journalist to the house associated with the late Dharma Veer Verma, where his nephew Aman allegedly stated that his uncle’s name was indeed Dharma Veer Verma but that he was not a freedom fighter. He was reportedly employed as a driver with the Survey of India and died several years ago.
Bahuguna has further claimed that Dharma Veer Verma had only two sons, one of whom has died while the other resides in Selaqui, and that the children of the two sons were too young to correspond with the claims being made in the applications. He has also stated that his examination of voter lists covering the past around 20 years did not reveal the names of persons corresponding to the alleged claimants at the addresses cited in the applications.
These claims, however, are allegations based on Bahuguna’s preliminary investigation and require verification from official records, including the records maintained by the district administration, the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrates and the counselling authorities. The authenticity of the certificates and the eligibility of individual candidates can only be conclusively established after examination of the original documents and the official records.
Another issue cited by Bahuguna is the contrast between the allotment under the Freedom Fighter quota this year and the situation last year. He has pointed out that some seats under the quota remained vacant last year because eligible candidates were reportedly not available, whereas all nine seats have been allotted this year. He has questioned whether the eligibility of every beneficiary was adequately verified before the allotments were made.
According to the procedure followed for recognising freedom fighters and their dependants, certificates relating to freedom fighters are issued by the District Magistrate and contain details such as the freedom fighter’s permanent place of residence, present address, relevant Government order number and freedom fighter pension patta number. Certificates for eligible successors or dependants are issued through the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and are also expected to contain details of the beneficiary, including the pension patta number of the freedom fighter, the relationship of the beneficiary with the freedom fighter and the beneficiary’s Aadhaar details.
Bahuguna has argued that such certificates are not meant to be issued merely on the basis of claims made by applicants but after verification against the list of recognised freedom fighters available with the district administration and physical verification at various levels. He has therefore demanded that the certificates of all candidates who have secured MBBS seats under the Freedom Fighter quota this year should be subjected to a thorough verification.
As Vice-President of the Freedom Fighters and Successors Welfare Committee, Bahuguna has written to the District Magistrate and Medical Education Minister seeking a comprehensive investigation into the alleged irregularities. In his representation, he has demanded verification of the Freedom Fighter and domicile certificates of all candidates who have secured MBBS seats under the State quota this year so that genuine beneficiaries are not deprived of their legitimate entitlement.
Jitendra Raghuvanshi, national general secretary of the Freedom Fighters Successors’ Family Committee, has also claimed that concerns regarding possible irregularities had been raised earlier. According to him, the committee had met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami around a month ago and sought an inquiry after expressing apprehension that ineligible persons could be attempting to claim benefits under the Freedom Fighter quota.
Bahuguna has maintained that a transparent investigation based on original Government records, verification of addresses and family relationships, and scrutiny of the certificates submitted during counselling is necessary to establish the facts.
