Now, interviews at Med colleges 'rigged'

“I was told by a top official that the chief minister wanted the current director of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) to continue. If the decision has already been taken, why did the Department conduct the interview at all,” said one of the candidates. The Department of Medical Education conducted the interviews on Friday.

Another candidate was of the view that the current director was not eligible for the post since he does not meet the criterion of 10 years of service as a professor. He falls short of the period by three months as on the date of filing application.

“However, he was allowed for the interview. You cannot have different yardsticks,” he said, adding that half of the candidates were from lateral entry — from health services.

The current dean and director Dr O S Siddappa is the 20th man on the seniority list of professors at the BMCRI. A copy of the list is in possession of Deccan Herald.

The whole process started late last year with December 18 being the last date for submitting applications. Around 218 applications were received for the posts at the BMCRI, Mysore, Mandya, Bidar and Hassan medical colleges, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli, Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary and Kidwai Institute of Oncology.

Medical Education S A Ramdas said a candidate should possess 10 years of experience as on the date of interview and not on the day of notification. He said the candidates’ list would be announced at the governing council's meeting on Monday.