DU Admission for Money!

The newspapers today reported of an individual who paid 2 Lakhs to get into Kirori Mal College, only to be conned. After reading Hindustan Times’ version of it, I was initially thinking of submitting a writeup to the Times of India. After reading the reporting of the incident by both these tabloids though, I guess I’ve got a much better chance of being published here!

The Hindustan Times Delhi Edition of 12.08.2009 reported  duping of a DU aspirant by conmen (Page 5). Titled ” DU Aspirant Gets Conned Online”, with the words “CONNED ONLINE” in capital case and highlighted in red print. The news item goes on to described how one Mr. Siddhartha Arora was conned by tricksters promising him an admission in the reputed Kirori Mal College. As per the reporting, Mr. Arora had secured “67% in his Class 12 board exams” and was ‘approached’ by touts online. Mr. Arora reportedly “paid them (the touts) Rs.2 lakh for a seat in B.Com. (Programme), a course for which cutoff marks always hover above 90 per cent”. The news item goes on to recount the horror of Mr, Arora when he discovered he had been cheated. The reporting in Times of India is not very different.

The question is, was the news item handled correctly and/or responsibly? Minor, as it may be for most of us, but there’s that age-group for whom this news item is crucial for the future. The news items describe how Mr. Arora was duped of his earnings, hard earned or otherwise!

It is evident that Mr. Arora got his just deserts in trying to bypass the merit with the green bucks … or should I say (sadly) the pink Gandhis.The news items, however, could have been presented as an advisory to prospective candidates to avoid touts and not to attempt to bypass the rules. Instead, the message that appears to be delivered from these news items is, not to try unknown conmen. They sound like a grievance of a  person to whom services were not rendered despite requisite payment having been made!