A complaint questioning the authenticity of the Post-Graduate degree held by top Health Ministry official Dr RK Vats has said that “one phone call” could have stopped him from heading the National Medical Commission, the apex body which regulates medical education and practioners in India, instead of “footballing” the issue.
News18.com had first reported on January 29 that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is conducting a probe over the genuineness of the PG degree held by Dr RK Vats, one of the most powerful officers of the ministry.
He has headed at least four top institutions in India, including the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), HLL Lifecare Limited, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and the National Medical Council (NMC). He has also played critical roles at food and drug regulators, FSSAI and CDSCO.
The complaint, which was first filed in October 2020, has alleged that the Post-Graduate degree – MD in Radiotherapy awarded by Kanpur University in 1985 – submitted by Dr Vats is inauthentic.
The complainant, advocate Surbhit Nandan, said in a letter dated March 22, 2021: “I had submitted a complaint with the necessary documents on 26.10.2020 along with its annexures to the office of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India pointing out the glaring facts requiring an immediate investigation and necessary action.”
Blaming the ministry for slow investigation, the letter said that it is not only entirely “inexplicable” but “completely unwarranted” that instead of taking immediate action, “this issue and event is being footballed from one table to the other”.
The complaint, a copy of which has been accessed by News18.com, said: “It was expected that an immediate action is initiated by your Ministry instead of permitting the gentleman concerned to continue to occupy such a high office in the National Medical Commission required to discharge significant and critical functions.”
It concluded that the actions clearly indicate “the influence enjoyed by the gentleman concerned”.
A copy of the complaint letter, the PG certificate submitted by Dr Vats and the reply by Kanpur University has been accessed by News18.com.
The letter has questioned the intent of the ministry and said it would be justified to believe that “there exists an unholy alliance and the conspiracy with the higher echelons of your Ministry in somehow ensuring that such a serious issue remains hidden under the carpet”.
“… It does not come up for immediate necessary action thereby ensuring illegal continuation of the gentleman concerned in such high public office.”
Prima facie, the complaint seems to have resulted in Dr Vats’ resignation from the NMC in June 2021.
Dr Vats’ Degree Different in Format
Separately, in a communication dated March 5, 2020, seen by News18.com, the Registrar of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, formerly and popularly known as Kanpur University, stated that according to University records, the MD Radiotherapy degree of the year 1985 with Roll No 15 is not issued by the said University to Dr Vats.
A copy of the complaint as well as the response letter from the Kanpur University stated that the photocopy of the said PG degree is not similar to the format adopted and used by the Kanpur University for issuance of PG medical degrees to its students.
The letters exchanged between the Dean of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College (GSVM Medical College) and the Registrar of Kanpur University show that, as per the records available, Dr Vats was admitted to the MD Radiotherapy course but had not completed it or appeared in the examination.
Slow Pace of Investigation
In the follow up letters submitted to the Health Ministry by complainant Nandan in 2021, he expressed disappointment at the pace of investigation against Vats.
“I was confident that my complaint / communication dated 26.10.2020 would deserve an immediate investigation. However, it seems that the investigation has still not commenced,” the letter said.
He labelled the matter “so serious”, which does not deserve “any delay in undertaking the investigation” for taking immediate corrective action. “There cannot be any two opinions that the subject matter involved in this case is of extremely serious nature,” the letter said.
“Your Ministry, being an expert in the subject of medical education, must have noticed that there is no methodology of awarding any marks or its percentage in the evaluation of candidates for the PG Medical Degrees,” the letter said, while pointing that the degree mentioned Dr Vats’ passing score as 55%.
“It should have rung an alarm bell for undertaking an immediate investigation in the claim by Shri Rakesh Kumar Vats that he possesses a valid and legal PG Medical Degree.”
The letter further said: “…your Ministry ought to have embarked upon an immediate investigation which could not have taken more than one phone call made from your office to the concerned officials of the said University.”
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