PUDUCHERRY: Alleging that there are over twenty thousand bogus ration cards in the Union Territory, BJP state secretary R V Swaminathan has urged the government to take steps to cancel them immediately.
In a statement here on Thursday, Swaminathan said the issue came to light during the participation of a candidate having residence both in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for the counselling by the CENTAC. Poor students of Puducherry are severely hit because of those with dual residency, he said adding that revenue officials who visit the residences of the poor when they apply for old age or widow pension, issued residence certificate to persons who are having residence in TN.
Swaminathan said poor students selected for MBBS in private medical colleges through CENTAC could not pursue the course by remitting `9 lakhs a year and are being forced to join other streams. Hence, the Puducherry administration should take steps to ensure that poor students could also pursue their medical education. He stated that there is no transparency in admission of NRI quota in private medical colleges.