MP PMT scam: Students call off fast on state assurance

Three students on fast since December 25 against the alleged Pre-Medical Test (PMT) scam today ended their agitation on assurance of Madhya Pradesh government that "appropriate" action will be taken against the guilty.
Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijaywargiya reached Maharaja Yashwant Rao Hospital and offered a glass of juice to the students, sources said.
While two of the three students, namely Poonam Sharma (21) and Kadamb Ray (22), were forcibly admitted in the hospital by police on December 29, Krishnakant got himself admitted later.
According to sources, pressure mounted on the state government as the students refused to budge and continued their hunger strike even in the hospital.

The students are demanding expediting the process of filling seats that have fallen vacant after state government cancelled admissions of those students who allegedly secured their seats in medical colleges through fraudulent means in the Pre-Medical Test held on July 7 last year.
The students also wanted the scam to be probed by CBI. Vijaywargiya assured the students to take suitable action after consulting and taking guidance from the Medical Council of India (MCI) in this regard, sources said.

The MP Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) had last year disqualified those students who had been identified by the probe agencies and allegedly benefited from irregularities in the entrance examination.

The impersonation scam involving ghost writers was busted in September.
The Special Task Force of MP Police, which is investigating the scam, had already filed a chargesheet in the Indore bench of the high court against 28 persons including some officials of the board.