Maharashtra’s Medical Vyapam Unfolds
• Medical Scam Explodes, Regulators Stay Silent
• Fifth-Year Fee Fraud Busted by Sprouts SIT
Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts News Exclusive
Contact: +91 9322755098
Sprouts News Exclusive
Contact: +91 9322755098
A ₹200 crore scam has rocked Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Pune, where students were illegally charged a fifth-year MBBS fee. Despite multiple complaints, regulatory bodies like NMC and DME failed to act. The Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT) exposes systemic collusion, demanding urgent refunds, degree release, and a CBI probe.
Contents
Maharashtra’s Medical Vyapam Unfolds• Medical Scam Explodes, Regulators Stay Silent• Fifth-Year Fee Fraud Busted by Sprouts SITIllegal Fee Structure at Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College Raises AlarmsWhistleblower Surgeon Faces Retaliation from College AdministrationBlame-Shifting Between NMC and Maharashtra DME Dr Ajay Chandanwale Fuels Regulatory ParalysisRTI System Used as a Wall, Not a WindowHigh-Level Political Intervention Meets Bureaucratic StonewallingMedical Vyapam of Maharashtra: Institutional Nexus or Oversight Failure?Also Read: Delhi High Court Fines Advocate Gulshan Babbar ₹1.25 Lakh for Repeated Petitions.Sprouts News Verdict
Illegal Fee Structure at Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College Raises Alarms
In a major education scam reminiscent of the infamous Vyapam scandal, Pune’s Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College has been accused of extorting over ₹200 crore from MBBS students through unlawful fee collection practices. As per National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines, the MBBS course duration is 4.5 years. However, the college allegedly charged an additional “fifth-year fee,” violating statutory norms.
Documents exclusively accessed by the Sprouts News Special Investigation Team (SIT) reveal that students were forced to pay ₹27 lakh as tuition along with ₹3.05 lakh in hostel fees, split across five instalments. Notably, the final instalment accounted for only six months of the academic calendar, raising serious questions on legality and intent.
Whistleblower Surgeon Faces Retaliation from College Administration
When a concerned surgeon whistleblower exposed this structured extortion model, the college administration responded with coercive measures. Degrees and key academic documents were withheld, and over 20 formal complaints filed by students on regulatory portals were allegedly ignored.
The NMC, in internal communication with Director of the Undergraduate Board Sukh Lal Meena seen by Sprouts News, acknowledged that the fee structure violated regulations. Yet, despite this admission, no punitive action was initiated. The victim, meanwhile, faced prolonged professional disruption and mental distress. An intervention letter by the Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh highlighted the gravity of the issue, calling for immediate redressal — which was ignored.
Blame-Shifting Between NMC and Maharashtra DME Dr Ajay Chandanwale Fuels Regulatory Paralysis
The Sprouts News SIT has identified a pattern of regulatory evasion through bureaucratic passing of responsibility. The NMC consistently directed Maharashtra’s Directorate of Medical Education (DME) Dr Ajay Chandanwale to enforce fee regulations, while distancing itself from enforcement duties.
In response, the DME
Dr. Chandanwale reportedly failed to initiate even basic inquiries, ignoring multiple NMC reminders and defaulting on the stipulated 7-day investigation deadlines. This regulatory shell game allowed the scam to continue unchecked, despite over five reminders and complaint escalations.
Instead of refunding students or penalising the college, officials issued generic RTI replies such as:
“The matter does not fall within the purview of the RTI Act.”
It is estimated that around 750 students were affected, each paying ₹32 lakh on average — bringing the total illegal collections to well over ₹200 crore.
RTI System Used as a Wall, Not a Window
Despite filing more than 15 Right to Information (RTI) applications, the whistleblower received little more than auto-generated replies or vague redirections. Most complaints were marked as “disposed” without genuine resolution or transparency.
In a particularly alarming contradiction, NMC officials admitted in official letters that they possessed regulatory authority but denied the same role in their RTI responses, creating legal and administrative ambiguity. Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth Registrar Dr JS Bhawalkar further declared itself exempt from RTI compliance, making it nearly impossible to hold the institution accountable.
Appellate RTI authorities suggested escalation to the Central Information Commission (CIC), effectively delaying relief and enabling prolonged inaction.
High-Level Political Intervention Meets Bureaucratic Stonewalling
Despite the scale of the scam and mounting evidence, high-level political interventions have been deflected by institutional actors:
•Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister’s Ultimatum to NMC: Issued a 7-day deadline to NMC for resolution, but it was blatantly ignored.
•President of India’s Secretariat: Transferred petitions to the Union Health Ministry, citing procedural constraints.
•Medical Counselling Committee (MCC): Acted only after 36 months, merely seeking clarification on the Vague fees structure and nature of fifth instalment through a letter to the Dean Rekha Arcot of the Medical college — long after ₹200+ crore had already been collected.
Despite these interventions, no academic degrees have been released, no refunds processed, and no administrative sanctions enforced. The college continues to receive regulatory clearance and admit new batches without scrutiny.
On several occasions students have went to ask for the refund but blatantly denied
One of the student told “ the college UG Section says that they have not received any reply from the college management that is the owners of the college Chancellor Prasad Patil and Prochancellor Bhagyshree Patil and till the time they will not give orders nothing will happen.”
Medical Vyapam of Maharashtra: Institutional Nexus or Oversight Failure?
This case mirrors the infamous Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, where corruption and regulatory silence enabled long-term exploitation of students. In Maharashtra’s case, a dangerous nexus between private medical institutions and regulatory bodies appears to shield malpractices from consequences.
Sprouts News Investigation Team (SIT) concludes that unless the government orders a full-scale CBI probe, this scandal will continue to grow unchecked — undermining medical education standards and endangering student futures. The evidence indicates that this case could easily eclipse the original Vyapam scam in both scale and impact.
Also Read: Delhi High Court Fines Advocate Gulshan Babbar ₹1.25 Lakh for Repeated Petitions.
Sprouts News Verdict
The ₹200 crore extortion scam at Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Pune, is a damning indictment of India’s regulatory machinery. It exposes how institutions entrusted with oversight — NMC and DME — have failed to protect students from illegal profiteering.
Sprouts News SIT demands immediate remedial action:
•Full refund of all illegally collected fees
•Unconditional release of degrees and academic records
•Suspension of institutional accreditation pending inquiry
•Criminal investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
Until then, Maharashtra’s own “Medical Vyapam” will continue to operate with impunity.
