CBI books medical council staffer for graft

The CBI has registered a case against a clerk in Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) for allegedly demanding bribe for enhancement of seats in Maharashtra's Kolhapur-based Late Kedari Redekar Ayurvedic Mahavidyalaya, an official said on Monday.

B.K. Basavaraju, an upper division clerk in CCIM is accused of entering into the criminal conspiracy with college President Anjana Kedari Redekar and other unidentified public and private persons for obtaining Letter of Permission (LoP) from the AYUSH Ministry for increasing student capacity of the college from 60 to 100.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official said the conspiracy was hatched a few days after the college applied for obtaining the LoP from the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).

Established in 2005, the college is accredited by the CCIM and affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences.

As the enhancement of seats is processed through CCIM, a body under the AYUSH Ministry, Basavaraju informed Anjana that he had close links with its President B.R. Ramakrishna, the main authority for clearing proposals to increase seats in colleges, said a CBI FIR lodged on Sunday.

"In June and July, Basavaraju informed Anjana that Ramakrishna had shown his willingness for recommending the Mahavidyalaya for issuance of LoP and had demanded an illegal gratification of Rs 20 lakh. Anjana agreed to pay Rs 17 lakh to Basavaraju for obtaining favourable recommendation... Basavaraju later conveyed to Anjana that the name of her college had been recommended for issuance of LoP...," the FIR said.

--IANS

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