It was during a 'waiting for the Boss' time of a meeting of different department heads from different institutes that I heard of the dissertation economics.
"Do you know dissertations is a booming business these days?" Mr A asked.
"How?" Mr B asked.
"In ways you cannot imagine" came the answer. "They are selling dissertations for Rs. 20000/- a piece."
"Selling?" I was confused.
"Yes. You have to tell them the topic, and they give you five bound copies of a dissertation on that topic."
"Without you giving them any data?"
"Without you giving them any data. There are ads of this business stuck on the walls of our institute."
"But we check data of the students" I said.
"How many institutes do that?" someone else asked.
"Even in institutes where the teachers are strict, it is still a booming business for select people" Mr. A said.
"How?"
The review board charges a fee from each student. But that is peanuts as compared to other expenses. There are two departments, the faculty of which understand medical statistics. You know which ones?"
We all knew which ones. We nodded.
"There are some staff members of those departments who charge about Rs. 6000/- for statistical analysis of each dissertation. Cash!"
"No income tax, huh?"
"No income tax" Mr A agreed. "No action by civic body for engaging in private practice too. Perhaps this is not private practice. Is it?"
None of us knew if it was private practice. I thought it was, but airing opinions on that did not prove anything. So I kept quiet.
"The university wants each dissertation in so and so manner, with such type of binding and such type of embossing on the cover. All that takes so much money."
"This must be a strong boost for the failing economy of the country" Mr C said.
'Not if it was all black money' I thought. But my opinion could be wrong - I had never studied economics.
"That is not all. Very few Resident doctors get their dissertations ready in time. Those who don't have to pay late fee to the university, which increases by the week."
"Yes!" said Mr D, who had been quiet so far. "Actually this is the main income of the university. Compared to this income, what it collects in the form of fees and grants is nothing."
I came out of the meeting educated but feeling faint for the experience.
"Do you know dissertations is a booming business these days?" Mr A asked.
"How?" Mr B asked.
"In ways you cannot imagine" came the answer. "They are selling dissertations for Rs. 20000/- a piece."
"Selling?" I was confused.
"Yes. You have to tell them the topic, and they give you five bound copies of a dissertation on that topic."
"Without you giving them any data?"
"Without you giving them any data. There are ads of this business stuck on the walls of our institute."
"But we check data of the students" I said.
"How many institutes do that?" someone else asked.
"Even in institutes where the teachers are strict, it is still a booming business for select people" Mr. A said.
"How?"
The review board charges a fee from each student. But that is peanuts as compared to other expenses. There are two departments, the faculty of which understand medical statistics. You know which ones?"
We all knew which ones. We nodded.
"There are some staff members of those departments who charge about Rs. 6000/- for statistical analysis of each dissertation. Cash!"
"No income tax, huh?"
"No income tax" Mr A agreed. "No action by civic body for engaging in private practice too. Perhaps this is not private practice. Is it?"
None of us knew if it was private practice. I thought it was, but airing opinions on that did not prove anything. So I kept quiet.
"The university wants each dissertation in so and so manner, with such type of binding and such type of embossing on the cover. All that takes so much money."
"This must be a strong boost for the failing economy of the country" Mr C said.
'Not if it was all black money' I thought. But my opinion could be wrong - I had never studied economics.
"That is not all. Very few Resident doctors get their dissertations ready in time. Those who don't have to pay late fee to the university, which increases by the week."
"Yes!" said Mr D, who had been quiet so far. "Actually this is the main income of the university. Compared to this income, what it collects in the form of fees and grants is nothing."
I came out of the meeting educated but feeling faint for the experience.
