I was lost for words for an instant.  What got me here was not the amount of capitation fee that had to be paid to get into the course, but how the student was so confident of recouping the amount back in a short time.  And what were the possibilities that this student would  resort to unethical practices post-MD in order to recoup his father's investment in his education.  To me it seemed very high looking from that potent angle.

THE SEEDS OF CORRUPTION SOWN RIGHT THERE BY OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM:

It is quite logical to conclude that this current education system with an heavy emphasis on financial clout is fast becoming the root cause of generational corruption in our nation. I choose to call it the cradle of corruption. The very notion that all you need is the money to get your higher education degree and not the merit right away takes the charm out of genuine academic hard-work and perseverance.   That this has got lethal implications for our education system as well is another  bitter fact. But the system of capitation fee is certainly inculcating the seeds of bribery in our young minds, that everything worthwhile in life has got a price.  And this is getting inculcated in them at a very early and impressionable age much before they can comprehend the machinations of the corrupt public life in our nation. 

SHORT-CUT DOCTORS & ENGINEERS MAY TAKE SHORT-CUTS IN LIFE:

Capitation fee has made heavy inroads into our academic institutions and in fact has become a way of life through much of our educational system.  This is true esp in those courses and walks of life that have a high impact on the workings of human society like medical practitioners and engineers who often become the path-makers of their generations.  Naturally and logically, we need the minds of the highest order, quality, and merit in these realms of society.  These are the individuals that will greatly affect public life and politics and this also means that these realms should be the beacon of supreme ethics and integrity. The very fact that we are introducing individuals that can buy their way into these realms straight away violates the merit as well as the integrity criteria.  First of all these individuals who have brought their way in may lack the merit and more importantly, the really damaging fact is that these individuals are those with the mentality that even the most sacred things in life can be brought at a certain high price.  They will be the ones most likely to tweak rules  of their profession here and there and be open to bribing and getting bribed.  Why, because their current position in life/society was achieved mostly by their money power of their fathers. And this is precisely this mentality that fuels corruption in these powerful societal realms and pervades in no time to the lower levels who constantly look up to these higher realms.  As an example here, the paramedical profession often looks up to the medical profession as a guide in many critical professional issues.

CORRUPTION BECOMES INHERENT TO THE SYSTEM.

It is no wonder that then corruption starts pervading the entire system because this is not then a sudden external stimuli of temptation.  This is something that has been ingrained into the individual from his or her days of high-school and college. As far as that particular individual is concerned, money and its cold hard power is all that matters and all other codes of professional conduct are just meant to be on paper, akin to what he or she saw during his/her admission process to his/her professional degree.  The future dean of a medical or an engineering college could very well be the product of the capitation system.  Thus even positions that demand high integrity and ethics are totally compromised and this is where corruption becomes insidious and inherent to the system.

ASTRONOMICAL COSTS OF MODERN EDUCATION FURTHER COMPOUNDING THE SITUATION

But it is also pointless to pin the entire blame on the institutions of higher learning; some of which have a great track record of contributions to education and the greater community.  Regardless, higher education is fast getting beyond the reach of the common man because of its spiraling costs and is soon becoming only the privilege of the rich and powerful. And the ever increasing and relentless pressure of funding on academic institutions is taking education to a point where money is reigning supreme over merit.  Many academic institutions these days are happier if a particular student/staff brings big money along with him/her rather than bring only superior credentials, merit, and talent.  In other words, the institutions would rather be well off financially and not so great academically than be a fiscally struggling institution of high academic merit.  This is becoming the case even of Government funded institutions today.  In such an environ where money makes a huge call, the cradle of corruption is always looming in the background as a benevolent devil.

MIXING LAXMI WITH SARASWATHI:

The Hindu ancients had a saying that the two Goddesses, Laxmi and Saraswathi, never stayed in the same house and if they did they only brought constant strife and finally catastrophe.  In other words, our ancients emphasized that knowledge and wealth never mixed.  Those Brahmins of the ancient days who saw themselves as true seekers of knowledge, precluded themselves from making and accumulating any forms of wealth.  Knowledge for the sake of knowledge was their sole pursuit in life.  And this golden principle has always stood the test of time, as it is a system that encourages and emphasizes true merit and excellence in knowledge without any reference to the individual's background or clout  And this same principle was embraced wholesale in our ancient gurukulas where a poor man's child and a prince used to study side by side and were treated as equals by the teachers and where merit, true devotion to knowledge, and genuine respect for the Guru were championed unabashedly.  

But modern education, modeled on failing and crumbling education systems from the West, are violating this very sacred principle.  Today big institutions have become synonymous with big money and this is all justified by the rising costs of education and research.   In this system, high quality education and research require large funds and this need is only balooning with time and the higher education institutions are thus trapped in  a financially stiffling vicious circle.  In this system, Laxmi has to forcefully coexist with Saraswathi in the same house, how much ever uneasy that coexistence is and how much ever unsavory the consequences are.  Capitation fees then becomes the ugly child of this unhealthy union.  It certainly solves the funding crunch in the short term but creates untold devastation in the long run.  And there is no escape from the  bitter fact that this fee then becomes the foundation of corruption for future generations.
Dr. Sivaram Hariharan
210311

--
Sarvam Sri-Krishnaarpanam