Whistleblower Ashish Chaturvedi recalls how and why he decided to blow the lid off Vyapam
Ashish Chaturvedi
Hyderabad: With at least 40 deaths linked to the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, a 26-year-old man now lives in constant fear of becoming the next victim. Ashish Chaturvedi, from Gwalior, one of the key whistleblowers of the scam, says an attack on him could be imminent. “There’s no 24x7 security. Police officials told me to only call them if I sense something was amiss,” he told the Deccan Chronicle, from Gwalior.
“Last I heard, there were rumours floating around that I will be chopped into pieces,” he adds. Mr Chaturvedi’s investigation into Vyapam started in 2009 when he took his cancer-stricken mother for treatment at a local hospital. “Doctors at the clinic didn’t have basic medical knowledge. Almost every patient was being treated in this trial and error method. I soon grew very suspicious,” reveals Mr Chaturvedi.
His mother died shortly and the death triggered the 26-year-old’s “private investigation” into the reasons. In that pursuit, he met one Brijendra Raghuvanshi in 2010, a medical student. During a casual chat Raghuvanshi claimed he had secured admission by paying a bribe. “He told me how smart dummy candidates were provided to aspirants to write their exams while the candidates were asked to go for a movie so that they are not seen around,” recalls Mr Chaturvedi.
“I was amazed by the way people in MP were becoming doctors by watching movies,” Mr Chaturvedi says, with a small laugh. He even attended counselling sessions with Raghuvanshi to observe how private college candidates were being transferred to government institutions. Today, years after his mother passed away, Mr Chaturvedi says he is trying his best to bring those responsible to justice. “I have no help. I don’t know if I will see tomorrow. But I’m not giving up,” he says.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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